Centre-left political party in Slovenia
The
Social Democrats
(
Slovene
:
Socialni demokrati
,
SD
) is a
centre-left
[4]
[5]
and
pro-European
social-democratic
political party
in
Slovenia
led by
Matja? Han
. From 1993 until 2005, the party was known as the
United List of Social Democrats
(
Slovene
:
Zdru?ena lista socialnih demokratov
,
pronounced
[z?l?s??d??]
).
[6]
It is the successor of the
League of Communists of Slovenia
.
[7]
As of 2022, the party is a member of a three-party coalition government with
Robert Golob
's
Freedom Movement
alongside
The Left
, as well as a full member of the
Party of European Socialists
and
Progressive Alliance
.
History
[
edit
]
Origins
[
edit
]
The origins of the modern-day party date from the end of 1989, when the
League of Communists of Slovenia
decided to renounce the absolute monopoly over political, social and economic life in the
Socialist Republic of Slovenia
, and agreed to introduce a system of
political pluralism
. On 23 January 1990, the Slovenian Communists left the
League of Communists of Yugoslavia
and on 4 February 1990 renamed themselves to
League of Communists of Slovenia-Party of Democratic Renewal
(
Zveza komunistov Slovenije-
Stranka demokrati?ne prenove
, ZKS-SDP).
[8]
[9]
Former prominent Communist politician
Ciril Ribi?i?
was elected as the party's new president. The party lost against the
Democratic Opposition of Slovenia
(DEMOS) centre-right coalition at the first democratic elections in Slovenia in April 1990, gaining 17.3% of the popular vote. They nevertheless became the single largest party in Slovenia.
Between 1990 and 1992, the party remained in opposition against the
centre-right
coalition government of
Lojze Peterle
. After the fall of Peterle's cabinet in 1992, the party entered the first coalition government of
Janez Drnov?ek
, formed by the left wing of the dissolved DEMOS coalition (the
Social Democratic Party of Slovenia
, the
Democratic Party of Slovenia
and the
Greens of Slovenia
). The same year, the party was renamed to
Social Democratic Renewal
(
Socialdemokratska prenova
), maintaining the same acronym, SDP.
Constitution of the United List
[
edit
]
Prior to the 1992 general election intensive discussions were held and agreements reached between
left
-oriented political parties and groups on an
electoral coalition
. Thus just prior the
parliamentary election of 1992
, an agreement was reached between the Social Democratic Renewal (SDP) and three smaller extra-parliamentary centre-left and left-wing parties (the Social Democratic Union, the Workers' Party of Slovenia and the
Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia
) to form an electoral coalition under the name
United List
. The newly formed coalition gained 13.6% of the popular vote, thus becoming the third political force in the country, after
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
and the
Slovene Christian Democrats
. These three largest parties decided to form a government coalition, which soon became popularly known as the "grand coalition" (
velika koalicija
), under the leadership of Liberal Democrat
Prime Minister
Janez Drnov?ek. Until March 1994, the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia also participated in this government coalition.
On 29 May 1993, a
congress
was held in
Ljubljana
at which the constitutive members of the United List decided to form a unified party. The new party was named the
United List of Social Democrats
and
Janez Kocijan?i?
was elected as its president. The party remained in government until January 1996, when it left the ruling coalition in disagreement over the government's
social welfare
policies. Furthermore, several prominent members exited the party and re-established Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia. In the general elections of 1996, the United List of Social Democrats suffered a substantial loss support, gaining only around 9% of the popular vote.
Pahor era
[
edit
]
In the period between 1996 and 2000, the party remained in opposition. On the third National Congress of the United List of Social Democrats in 1997 a new party president,
Borut Pahor
, was elected. A gradual evolution towards more moderate positions started. In the election of 2000, the party rose to 12% of the vote and entered the centre-left coalition government led by Janez Drnov?ek, while the party's president Borut Pahor was elected chairman of the
Slovenian National Assembly
. In the general elections of 2004, the party gained around 10.2% of the vote and went into opposition against the centre-right government dominated by the
Slovenian Democratic Party
.
In the fifth party Congress held in 2005 in
Ljubljana
, the decision was taken to shorten the party name to the
Social Democrats
. Borut Pahor was confirmed as the party president, strengthening his positions against internal opposition from the left wing of the party.
[10]
In the programmatic congress held in
Nova Gorica
in July 2006, the party clearly distanciated itself against its
communist
past, while its president publicly condemned the socialist regime in Slovenia and Yugoslavia established after
World War II
.
[11]
After the internal crisis in the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS) following the loss of election in 2004, which resulted in the split of the party, the Social Democrats emerged as the main centre-left opposition force against the centre-right government led by
Janez Jan?a
. In 2007, several prominent members of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia, including former Prime Minister
Anton Rop
, left their party and joined the Social Democrats. Following these developments, the Social Democrats became the second largest parliamentary party in Slovenia, after the Slovenian Democratic Party.
In 2008, the Social Democrats signed a coalition agreement with the extra-parliamentary
Christian Socialists of Slovenia
, and decided to set up a common election list on the coming elections.
In September 2008, Social Democrats won the parliamentary election with 30.45%. The ruling Slovenian Democratic Party finished second with 29.26%. Social Democrats formed a new Slovenian government in coalition with
Zares
,
DeSUS
and LDS. They won 29 seats in the 90-member National Assembly, one of which was won by Andrej Magajna, the president of the Christian Socialists of Slovenia. In October 2010, Andrej Magajna left the
deputy group
of Social Democrats due to differences of opinion with the rest of the group. He especially criticised the party leader Borut Pahor and the Minister of Economic Development
Mitja Gaspari
, claiming that he had been threatened with "removal" for not having supported the new act on the
public broadcaster
RTV Slovenija
.
[12]
After Magajna's break with the party, the SD parliamentary group was left with 28 MPs.
SD won 10.5% of the vote at the early
2011 Slovenian parliamentary election
on 4 December 2011, gaining 10 seats in the
National Assembly
.
[13]
SD were therefore in third place behind the SDS and new centre-left party
Positive Slovenia
(PS). SDS leader
Janez Jan?a
became Prime Minister for a second time on 10 February 2012 heading a centre-right coalition government.
Luk?i? era
[
edit
]
In June 2012, Pahor unsuccessfully ran for re-election as president of the Social Democrats. He was defeated by
Igor Luk?i?
by a narrow margin.
[14]
However, on 20 March 2013 Jan?a's coalition was replaced by a
new government
headed by PS interim leader
Alenka Bratu?ek
, a comprising PS, the Social Democrats,
Civic List
and DeSUS.
[
citation needed
]
Bratu?ek resigned as Prime Minister on 3 May 2014 seeking an early general election.
[15]
After the party won only one MEP seat and 8.0% of the vote in
2014 European Parliament election
,
[16]
Luk?i? resigned as SD party president on 26 May.
[17]
The party received 5.95% of the vote in the
Slovenian parliamentary election
on 13 July 2014, and won 6 seats in parliament.
[18]
On 18 September 2014, the Social Democrats joined the
cabinet of Miro Cerar
, also comprising Prime Minister Cerar's
Modern Centre Party
(SMC) and DeSUS.
?idan leadership
[
edit
]
SD scored badly at the
2014 European election
, only obtaining 8,08% of votes and one seat. Following the result, Luk?i? resigned and
Dejan ?idan
was elected as new leader of the party.
The party improved its result in the
2018 parliamentary election
, scoring 9,9% of votes and winning ten seats in the
National Assembly
. The Social Democrats later joined
Marjan ?arec's government
and held the posts of Minister of Justice and Minister of Culture until the dissolution of government in January 2020 by Marjan ?arec.
International affiliations
[
edit
]
The United List of Social Democrats became full member party of
Socialist International
at the organisation's 20th Congress in September 1996 in
New York City
. Since 16 May 2003, the Social Democrats have been a full member party of the
Party of European Socialists
(PES). SD party representatives were present at the foundation of the
Progressive Alliance
on 22 May 2013.
[19]
SD was delisted from the Socialist International in December 2014 for not paying membership fees.
Electoral results
[
edit
]
National Assembly
[
edit
]
Election
|
Leader
|
Votes
|
%
|
Seats
|
+/?
|
Government
|
1990
|
Ciril Ribi?i?
|
186,928
|
17.28 (#1)
|
|
14
|
Opposition
|
1992
|
161,349
|
13.58 (#3)
|
|
|
Coalition
|
1996
|
Janez Kocijan?i?
|
96,597
|
9.03 (#5)
|
|
5
|
Opposition
|
2000
|
Borut Pahor
|
130,079
|
12.08 (#3)
|
|
2
|
Coalition
|
2004
|
98,527
|
10.17 (#3)
|
|
1
|
Opposition
|
2008
|
320,248
|
30.45 (#1)
|
|
19
|
Coalition
|
2011
|
115,952
|
10.52 (#3)
|
|
19
|
Opposition,
2012?13
|
Coalition,
2013?14
|
2014
|
Dejan ?idan
|
52,249
|
5.98 (#4)
|
|
4
|
Coalition
|
2018
|
88,524
|
9.93 (#3)
|
|
4
|
Coalition,
2018?20
|
Opposition,
2020?22
|
2022
|
Tanja Fajon
|
79.709
|
6.69 (#4)
|
|
3
|
Coalition
|
European Parliament
[
edit
]
Election
|
Votes
|
%
|
Seats
|
+/?
|
2004
|
61,672
|
14.2 (#4)
|
|
|
2009
|
85,407
|
18.4 (#2)
|
|
1
|
2014
|
32,484
|
8.1 (#5)
|
|
1
|
2019
|
89,936
|
18.7 (#2)
|
|
1
|
2024
|
51,783
|
7.7 (#4)
|
|
1
|
Presidential
[
edit
]
Election
|
Candidate
|
1st round
|
2nd round
|
Result
|
Votes
|
%
|
Votes
|
%
|
1990
|
Milan Ku?an
|
538,278
|
44.43
|
657,196
|
58.59
|
Won
|
1992
|
Milan Ku?an
[a]
|
795,012
|
63.93
|
|
Won
|
1997
|
Milan Ku?an
[a]
|
578,925
|
55.54
|
|
Won
|
2002
|
Lev Kreft
|
25,715
|
2.25
|
|
Lost
|
2007
|
Danilo Turk
[a]
|
241,349
|
24.47
|
677,333
|
68.03
|
Won
|
2012
|
Borut Pahor
|
325,406
|
39.93
|
474,309
|
67.44
|
Won
|
2017
|
Borut Pahor
[a]
|
355,117
|
47.21
|
375,106
|
52.98
|
Won
|
2022
[a]
|
Milan Brglez
|
134,726
|
15.45
|
|
Lost
|
a
Independent candidate
, support
Party leadership
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"Planet Siol: SDS je z 30.000 ?lani gromozanska stranka proti ostalim. Virantovcev je le za "jurja"
"
.
Politikis
(in Slovenian). 16 May 2013
. Retrieved
30 June
2016
.
- ^
Hlou?ek, Vit; Kope?ek, Lubomir (2010),
Origin, Ideology and Transformation of Political Parties: East-Central and Western Europe Compared
, Ashgate, p. 26,
ISBN
9780754678403
- ^
Nordsieck, Wolfram (2018).
"Slovenia"
.
Parties and Elections in Europe
. Retrieved
30 August
2018
.
- ^
a
b
Connor, Richard (5 December 2011),
Center-left wins power in Croatia, Slovenian poll delivers surprise
, DW
- ^
a
b
"Slovenia"
,
Freedom in the World 2009
, Freedom House
, retrieved
17 March
2012
- ^
"Slovenski pravopis 2001: ZLSD"
.
- ^
"YouTube.com"
.
Socialni demokrati-Ponosni nasledniki Zveze komunistov
. Sovra?im sneg. 2019-03-22.
Archived
from the original on 2021-12-22.
- ^
"IZ PROGRAMSKIH USMERITEV ZKS - SDP"
.
Digitalna knji?nica Slovenije
. Retrieved
10 February
2022
.
- ^
"ZKS-SDP - Volitve 90"
.
Digitalna knji?nica Slovenije
. Retrieved
10 February
2022
.
- ^
"SURVEY OF THE ORIGIN OF THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATS OF SLOVENIA"
. Retrieved
2007-06-09
.
- ^
"S Socialnimi demokrati v vrh sveta razvitosti"
. Delo.si. 2012-06-15
. Retrieved
2014-07-10
.
- ^
"Magajna: Grozili so mi z odstranitvijo"
[Magajna:I was threatened with removal] (in Slovenian). Archived from
the original
on 29 October 2010
. Retrieved
27 October
2010
.
- ^
"Republic of Slovenia Early Elections for Deputies to the National Assembly 2011"
. National Electoral Commission. Archived from
the original
on 1 August 2012
. Retrieved
16 December
2011
.
- ^
"SD bo odslej vodil Luk?i?"
. Delo
. Retrieved
3 December
2012
.
- ^
"International News | World News - ABC News"
. Abcnews.go.com
. Retrieved
2014-07-10
.
- ^
"EU volitve 2014 / 18"
. Delo.si
. Retrieved
2014-07-10
.
- ^
RTVSLO.si - http://www.rtvslo.si/slovenija/igor-luksic-odstopil-kot-predsednik-sd-ja/337799
- ^
Pred?asne Volitve V Dr?avni Zbor 2014
Republika Slovenija - Dr?avna volilna komisija. Accessed 13 July 2014
- ^
[1]
Archived
June 10, 2013, at the
Wayback Machine
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