Social Democrats Socialni demokrati | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | SD |
| Leader | Matjaž Han |
| Founder | Ciril Ribičič |
| Founded | 29 May 1993 (1993-05-29) |
| Preceded by | ZKS |
| Headquarters | Ljubljana |
| Youth wing | Youth Forum of Social Democrats |
| Membership(2013) | 12,109[1] |
| Ideology | Social democracy |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| European affiliation | Party of European Socialists |
| European Parliament group | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats |
| International affiliation | Progressive Alliance |
| Colors | Red |
| National Assembly | 8 / 90 |
| European Parliament | 1 / 9 |
| Mayors | 14 / 212 |
| Municipal council | 302 / 2,750 |
| Party flag | |
.svg) | |
| Website | |
| socialnidemokrati.si | |
TheSocial Democrats (Slovene:Socialni demokrati,SD) is acentre-left[2][3]social democratic[4][5]political party in Slovenia. Led byMatjaž Han, the party was known as theUnited List of Social Democrats (Slovene:Združena lista socialnih demokratov[zələsəˈdə́])[6] from 1993 until 2005. It is the successor of theLeague of Communists of Slovenia.[7] As of 2022, the party is a member of a three-party coalition government withRobert Golob'sFreedom Movement alongsideThe Left, as well as a full member of theParty of European Socialists andProgressive Alliance.
The origins of the modern-day party date from the end of 1989, when theLeague of Communists of Slovenia decided to renounce the absolute monopoly over political, social and economic life in theSocialist Republic of Slovenia, and agreed to introduce a system ofpolitical pluralism. On 23 January 1990, the Slovenian Communists left theLeague of Communists of Yugoslavia and on 4 February 1990 renamed themselves toLeague of Communists of Slovenia-Party of Democratic Renewal (Zveza komunistov Slovenije-Stranka demokratične prenove, ZKS-SDP).[8][9] Former prominent Communist politicianCiril Ribičič was elected as the party's new president. The party lost against theDemocratic 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 thecentre-right coalition government ofLojze Peterle. After the fall of Peterle's cabinet in 1992, the party entered the first coalition government ofJanez Drnovšek, formed by the left wing of the dissolved DEMOS coalition (theSocial Democratic Party of Slovenia, theDemocratic Party of Slovenia and theGreens of Slovenia). The same year, the party was renamed toSocial Democratic Renewal (Socialdemokratska prenova), maintaining the same acronym, SDP.
Prior to the 1992 general election intensive discussions were held and agreements reached betweenleft-oriented political parties and groups on anelectoral coalition. Thus just prior theparliamentary 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 theDemocratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia) to form an electoral coalition under the nameUnited List. The newly formed coalition gained 13.6% of the popular vote, thus becoming the third political force in the country, afterLiberal Democracy of Slovenia and theSlovene 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 DemocratPrime Minister Janez Drnovšek. Until March 1994, the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia also participated in this government coalition.
On 29 May 1993, acongress was held inLjubljana at which the constitutive members of the United List decided to form a unified party. The new party was named theUnited List of Social Democrats andJanez Kocijančič was elected as its president. The party remained in government until January 1996, when it left the ruling coalition in disagreement over the government'ssocial 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.
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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 Drnovšek, while the party's president Borut Pahor was elected chairman of theSlovenian 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 theSlovenian Democratic Party.
In the fifth party Congress held in 2005 inLjubljana, the decision was taken to shorten the party name to theSocial 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 inNova Gorica in July 2006, the party clearly distanciated itself against itscommunist past, while its president publicly condemned the socialist regime in Slovenia and Yugoslavia established afterWorld 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 byJanez Janša. In 2007, several prominent members of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia, including former Prime MinisterAnton 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-parliamentaryChristian 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 withZares,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 thedeputy 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 DevelopmentMitja Gaspari, claiming that he had been threatened with "removal" for not having supported the new act on thepublic broadcasterRTV 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 early2011 Slovenian parliamentary election on 4 December 2011, gaining 10 seats in theNational Assembly.[13] SD were therefore in third place behind the SDS and new centre-left partyPositive Slovenia (PS). SDS leaderJanez Janša became Prime Minister for a second time on 10 February 2012 heading a centre-right coalition government.
In June 2012, Pahor unsuccessfully ran for re-election as president of the Social Democrats. He was defeated byIgor Lukšič by a narrow margin.[14]
However, on 20 March 2013 Janša's coalition was replaced by anew government headed by PS interim leaderAlenka Bratušek, a comprising PS, the Social Democrats,Civic List and DeSUS.[citation needed] Bratušek 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 in2014 European Parliament election,[16] Lukšič resigned as SD party president on 26 May.[17]
The party received 5.95% of the vote in theSlovenian parliamentary election on 13 July 2014, and won 6 seats in parliament.[18] On 18 September 2014, the Social Democrats joined thecabinet of Miro Cerar, also comprising Prime Minister Cerar'sModern Centre Party (SMC) and DeSUS.
SD scored badly at the2014 European election, only obtaining 8,08% of votes and one seat. Following the result, Lukšič resigned andDejan Židan was elected as new leader of the party.
The party improved its result in the2018 parliamentary election, scoring 9,9% of votes and winning ten seats in theNational Assembly. The Social Democrats later joinedMarjan Šarec's government and held the posts of Minister of Justice and Minister of Culture until the dissolution of government in January 2020 by Marjan Šarec.
The United List of Social Democrats became full member party ofSocialist International at the organisation's 20th Congress in September 1996 inNew York City. Since 16 May 2003, the Social Democrats have been a full member party of theParty of European Socialists (PES). SD party representatives were present at the foundation of theProgressive Alliance on 22 May 2013.[19] SD was delisted from the Socialist International in December 2014 for not paying membership fees.
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | Ciril Ribičič | 186,928 | 17.28 (#1) | 14 / 80 |  14 | Opposition |
| 1992 | 161,349 | 13.58 (#3) | 14 / 90 |  | Coalition | |
| 1996 | Janez Kocijančič | 96,597 | 9.03 (#5) | 9 / 90 |  5 | Opposition |
| 2000 | Borut Pahor | 130,079 | 12.08 (#3) | 11 / 90 | 2 | Coalition |
| 2004 | 98,527 | 10.17 (#3) | 10 / 90 | 1 | Opposition | |
| 2008 | 320,248 | 30.45 (#1) | 29 / 90 | 19 | Coalition | |
| 2011 | 115,952 | 10.52 (#3) | 10 / 90 | 19 | Opposition,2012–13 | |
| Coalition,2013–14 | ||||||
| 2014 | Dejan Židan | 52,249 | 5.98 (#4) | 6 / 90 | 4 | Coalition |
| 2018 | 88,524 | 9.93 (#3) | 10 / 90 | 4 | Coalition,2018–20 | |
| Opposition,2020–22 | ||||||
| 2022 | Tanja Fajon | 79.709 | 6.69 (#4) | 7 / 90 | 3 | Coalition |
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Borut Pahor | 61,672 | 14.15 (#4) | 1 / 7 | New | PES |
| 2009 | Zoran Thaler | 85,407 | 18.43 (#2) | 2 / 8 | 1 | S&D |
| 2014 | Igor Lukšič | 32,484 | 8.08 (#5) | 1 / 8 | 1 | |
| 2019 | Tanja Fajon | 89,936 | 18.66 (#2) | 2 / 8 | 1 | |
| 2024 | Matjaž Nemec | 51,783 | 7.77 (#4) | 1 / 9 | 1 |
| Election | Candidate | 1st round | 2nd round | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | Votes | % | |||
| 1990 | Milan Kučan | 538,278 | 44.43 | 657,196 | 58.59 | Won |
| 1992 | Milan Kučan[a] | 795,012 | 63.93 | Won | ||
| 1997 | Milan Kučan[a] | 578,925 | 55.54 | Won | ||
| 2002 | Lev Kreft | 25,715 | 2.25 | Lost | ||
| 2007 | Danilo Türk[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 | ||
aIndependent candidate, support
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