Slovenian Democratic Party 425720 214936526 2008-05-25T23:55:39Z Viator slovenicus 3511272 /* Organization and political affiliation */ {{Infobox State of former Yugoslavia Political Party | party_name = Slovenska demokratska stranka | english_name = Slovenian Democratic Party | country = Slovenia | party_logo = | party_wikicolourid = Republican | leader = [[Janez Janša]] | foundation = 1989 | ideology = [[Conservatism]],<br> [[Liberal Conservatism]],<br> [[Centre-right]] | 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''' (SDS &mdash; [[Slovene language|Slovenian]]: ''Slovenska demokratska stranka''), previously the '''Social Democratic Party of Slovenia''' (Slovenian: ''Socialdemokratska stranka Slovenije'') is a [[Slovenia]]n [[center-right]] [[liberal conservative]] party. It is led by [[Prime Minister]] [[Janez Jan&#353;a]]. 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 Parliament election, 2004|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 (SDS) has developed from the fusion of two dinstict democratic political traditions, since it is 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 former [[DEMOS coalition]] which, after the defeat of the communist regime in the 1990 elections, carried out the democratisation of Slovenia and led the political process that brought the secession of Slovenia from [[Yugoslavia]] and its international recognition as an independent country. The Slovenian Democratic Union was founded in January, and the Social-Democratic Union in February [[1989]], as opposition movements to the [[Communist Party of Slovenia]] which had ruled the [[Socialist Republic of Slovenia]] since [[1945]]. From the very beginning, both parties (unions) 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 functioned as a broad but somehow fragmented coalition of several groups with different [[Liberal]], [[Social Liberalism|Social-Liberal]] and [[Civic Nationalism|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. Under the leadership of [[Jože Pučnik]], a famous former dissident who had been forced to emigrate to [[Germany]] in the 1960s, it gradually developed into a moderate non-Marxist [[Social-Democratic]] party, which cpmbined the plea for a market economy with the support of a [[Welfare State]] on a [[Germany|German]], [[Austria]]n or [[Scandinavia]]n 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). The party suffered a clear defeat in the [[1992]] elections, barely securing its entry in the Parliament. Nevertheless, it formed a coalition with the ruling [[Liberal Democracy of Slovenia]] and entered [[Janez Drnovšek]]'s cabinets muffin. 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 the 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 abbreviation - 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 [[Economic liberalism|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 last [[legislative]] [[elections in Slovenia|elections]], [[3 October]] [[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]] (Slovenian: ''Liberalna Demokracija Slovenije''); [[as of 2005]] 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 regionalization 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 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, [[Embryonic stem cell|stem cell]] research and passed a law recognizing [[Civil unions in Slovenia|same-sex civil unions]], all things opposed by the Roman Catholic Church). The centre-left opposition has laso 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 repetedly tried to discreditate the Prime Minister. ==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]]. 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 (Slovenia)|Rally for the Republic]] (Slovenian: ''Zbor za republiko''). Parliamentary representation: <timeline> ImageSize = width:350 height:120 PlotArea = width:250 height:80 left:50 bottom:20 AlignBars = justify DateFormat = yyyy Period = from:0 till:32 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical ScaleMajor = unit:year increment:4 start:0 PlotData= bar:Seats color:claret width:30 mark:(line,white) align:left fontsize:S bar:1990 from:start till:6 text:6 bar:1992 from:start till:4 text:4 bar:1996 color:pink from:start till:16 text:16 bar:2000 color:pink from:start till:14 text:14 bar:2004 color:skyblue from:start till:29 text:29 </timeline> ==Prominent members== *[[Janez Janša]] *[[Miha Brejc]] *[[Jože Pučnik]] *[[Dimitrij Rupel]] *[[Janko Prunk]] *[[Rudi Šeligo]] *[[Milan Zver]] *[[Matjaž Šinkovec]] *[[Vasko Simoniti]] *[[Romana Jordan Cizelj]] ==See also== *[[Politics of Slovenia]] *[[List of political parties in Slovenia]] *[[Drago Jančar]] *[[Ljubo Sirc]] ==External links== *[http://www.eng.sds.si/ Official website] (English version) {{Slovenian political parties}} [[Category:Political parties in Slovenia]] [[Category:International Democrat Union]] [[de:Slowenische Demokratische Partei]] [[es:Partido Democrático Esloveno]] [[fr:Parti démocratique slovène]] [[it:Partito Democratico Sloveno]] [[nl:Sloveense Democratische Partij]] [[sl:Slovenska demokratska stranka]] [[sh:Slovenska demokratska stranka]]