Slovenian Democratic Party

Infobox State of former Yugoslavia Political Party
party_name = Slovenska demokratska stranka
english_name = Slovenian Democratic Party
country = Slovenia
party_
party_wikicolourid = Republican
leader = Janez Janša
foundation = 1989
ideology = Conservatism,
Liberal Conservatism
headquarters = Ljubljana
colours = blue and yellow
website_address = http://www.sds.si/
website_title = SDS Website
european = European People's Party
europarl = EPP-ED
The Slovenian Democratic Party ( _sl. Slovenska demokratska stranka, acronym "SDS"), known until 2003 as the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia ( _sl. "Socialdemokratska stranka Slovenije") is a Slovenian center-right liberal conservative party. It is led by Prime Minister Janez Janša.

Currently, the SDS is the largest political group represented in the Slovenian Parliament (with 29 MPs or 32,2% of the total). At the European election it got 17.7% which yielded 2 seats in the European parliament out of a total 7 from Slovenia. It is a member of the European People's Party (EPP) and its MEPs sit in the EPP-ED Group.

History

The Slovenian Democratic Party has developed from the fusion of two distinct democratic political traditions, being the legal successor of both of the Social-Democratic Union of Slovenia and the Slovenian Democratic Union, two of the most influential parties of the DEMOS coalition which defeated the former Communist Party of Slovenia in the first free elections of April 1990 and carried out the democratization of Slovenia and its secession from Yugoslavia.

The Slovenian Democratic Union was founded in January 1989 and the Social-Democratic Union in February of the same year, as opposition movements to the Communist Party of Slovenia which had ruled the Slovenia since 1945. From the very beginning, both parties voiced their support for the transition to a democratic and pluralistic political order, a market economy, the establishment of the rule of law and respect for human rights and fundamental political freedoms, respect for minority rights, and the inclusion of Slovenia in the Euro - Atlantic integrations (the European Union and NATO). Both parties have, in their programs, opposed communism and favoured Slovenian independence. The Slovenian Democratic Union functioned as a broad but somehow fragmented coalition of several groups with different liberal, social-liberal and civic nationalist agendas. The Social-Democratic Union of Slovenia, on the other hand, had emerged from an independent, anti-Communist trade union movement in the late 1980s. Its first president was the trade union leader France Tomšič, who in December 1987 organized the first successful large-scale workers strike in Communist Slovenia, following the example of Lech Walesa's Solidarity movement in Poland. He however resigned soon after the founding of the party, endorsing the leadership of Jože Pučnik, a former dissident who had been forced to emigrate to Germany in the 1960s. Under Pučnik's leadership, The Social Democratic Union of Slovenia gradually developed into a moderate non-Marxist social-democratic party, which combined the plea for a market economy with the support of a welfare state on a German, Austrian and Scandinavian model.

In 1992, the Slovenian Democratic Union split into two parties, one with a Social-Liberal and the other with a more conservative and Nationalist agenda. A third group, dissatisfied with both options, joined Jože Pučnik's Social-Democratic Party ("SDSS", later simplified to "SDS"). Nevertheless, Pučnik's party suffered a clear defeat in the 1992 elections, barely securing its entry in the Parliament. Nevertheless, it formed a coalition with the winning Liberal Democracy of Slovenia and entered Janez Drnovšek's cabinet.

In May 1993, Janez Janša, former member of the Slovenian Democratic Union and minister of defence during the Slovenian War of Independence, was elected president of the Party with the support of Jože Pučnik who resigned and became the honorary president of the party (the function he held until his death in January 2003). Janša remained the only social-democratic minister in Drnovšek's coalition government until March 1994, when he was dismissed by Prime Minister Janez Drnovšek following allegations that he allowed the military to interfere in civilian justice. He was subsequently cleared following an inquiry. This provoked a government crisis in which the SDS left the coalition and became the strongest opponent of Drnovšek's policies. It stayed in opposition for the next 10 years (except for a short period in 2000 when it entered a short-lived centre-right government led by Andrej Bajuk), slowly gaining in popularity and shifting to socially more conservative and economically more liberal positions. In the year 2000, it decided to apply for membership in the European People's Party and in 2003 it changed its name from the previous Social Democratic Party of Slovenia to Slovenian Democratic Party (while maintaining the same acronym, "SDS"). In a new program, adopted the same year, the SDS defined itself as a centrist party, a definition that hasn't been changed since. It adopted a fully liberal program in economic policy, but maintained a basically centrist policy in social issues, combining christian democratic, social democratic and liberal conservative points of view. It reiterated its unconditional support of the European Union and a strongly emphasized atlantist policy, which had been in the programme of the party since its founding.

In 2004, it clearly won the elections and formed a coalition with the Christian democratic New Slovenia party, the conservative Slovenian People's Party, and the single-issue DeSUS party.

Recent developments

At the Slovenian election in 2004, the party won 29.1% of the popular vote and 29 out of 88 seats. It was given a six-point advance over the previously governing Liberal Democracy of Slovenia ( _sl. "Liberalna Demokracija Slovenije"); as of 2008 the SDS leads a governing coalition consisting of four parties.

The SDS-led government introduced reform in its fiscal policy, passed several pro-business measures, initiated the regionalisation of the country by giving more power to local governments, and framing a new division of the country into provinces. The Government also introduced measures to curtail the powers of the Slovenian secret service. These measures have been strongly attacked by the opposition and segments of the press as an attempt to discredit the secret intelligence service and cast a negative shadow on the policies of previous governments.

The SDS-led government has also been criticised for introducing economically non-sustainable changes in the pension system in order to please its coalition party, the Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia.

Recently, the SDS has been accused of supporting the agenda advanced by the Roman Catholic Church. Nevertheless, the Church maintained a critical attitude towards some of the party's positions (the SDS-led Government has assumed a favourable attitude towards gambling tourism, stem cell research and passed a law recognizing same-sex civil unions, all things opposed by the Roman Catholic Church).

The centre-left opposition has also accused the SDS in general (and the Prime Minister Janez Janša in particular) of meddling with the independent press. The SDS, on the other side, rejected such accusations claiming that the media have been controlled by the left-wing political groups since the independence of the country and that they have repeatedly tried to discredit the Prime Minister.

At the Slovenian election in 2008, the party lost against main oposition party Social democrats, and also lost one sit in Slovenian Parliament (now 28).

Organization and political affiliation

The Slovenian Democratic Party is subdivided into several organizations that cover specific segments; one of them is the Slovenian Democratic Youth (SDY), which is currently led by Gregor Horvatič.

Influential members and officials of the party include Miha Brejc and Matjaž Šinkovec who were co-founders of the Slovenian Social Democratic Union. Other influential members are Milan Zver, current vice president of the party and Minister of education, chairman of the Slovenian National Assembly France Cukjati, ministers Dragutin Mate, Gregor Virant and Iztok Jarc, and member of European Parliament Romana Jordan Cizelj. Among the deceased members, the most prominent were Jože Pučnik, Rudi Šeligo and Katja Boh.

The Party is also affiliated with the major liberal-conservative think tank in Slovenia, the Jože Pučnik Institute. It is also close to the civic platform Rally for the Republic ( _sl. "Zbor za republiko").

Public support

The party has a strong support in some neo-conservative and classical liberal intellectual circles in Slovenia. Public figures who have publicly supported the party or have been known of being close to its policies and programmatic stance include the economist Ljubo Sirc, legal expert Peter Jambrek, philosopher Ivan Urbančič, sociologist Frane Adam, historians Vasko Simoniti and Alenka Puhar, writer and essayist Drago Jančar, poet and editor Niko Grafenauer, literary historian Janko Kos, theologian and philosopher Janez Juhant, and poets Dane Zajc and Tone Kuntner. Public supporters of the party also include sportsmen Miran Pavlin, Aleš Čeh, Sebastjan Cimirotič, Davo Karničar, pop singer Marta Zore, designer Miki Muster, actors Radko Polič and Roman Končar, actor and showman Jernej Kuntner.

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Party leaders

Presidents of the Social Democratic Party and Slovenian Democratic Party

*France Tomšič, 1989-1990
*Jože Pučnik, 1990-1993
*Janez Janša, 1993-current

External links

* [http://www.eng.sds.si/ Official website]