Bulatović's actual departure from the DPS took place on 11 July 1997, when the DPS GO (""Glavni odbor"") committee held a closed doors session, selecting Milica Pejanović-Đurišić to replace Bulatović as the party president. The party split had enormous implications, ultimately setting the stage for a confrontation between Đukanović and Bulatović inevitable. This manifested in the 1997 Montenegrin presidential election held in October, which Đukanović won by a thin margin. Clinton envoy Robert Gelbard testified about meeting Đukanović before and after the election in front of the U.S. Senate during the ""Prospects for Democracy in Yugoslavia"" hearings on 29 July 1999. Initially demanding greater autonomy, Đukanović and his supporters advocated Montenegrin nationalism, which supported independence and a separate Montenegrin identity. The key point for an active change of policy towards independence is the deprivation of Montenegro's federal rights by the Milošević federal regime.