Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
Encyclopedia
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia is a liberal
political party in Slovenia
. It is led by Katarina Kresal
and is a member of the Liberal International
and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
. It was the party that dominated Slovenian politics
between 1992 and 2004, when it lost the elections to the conservative Slovenian Democratic Party
, and subsequently suffered a political fragmentation. Today, it is the fourth largest party in Slovenia, with an electoral support of around 5.2 %.
In 1990, the well-known Slovenian sociologist, philosopher and cultural critic Slavoj Žižek
was the LDS' candidate for the Presidency of Slovenia (an auxiliary body of the President of the Republic, abolished in 1992).
At the European Parliament election
in 2004 LDS won 21.9% of the vote, which yielded 2 seats in the European Parliament
out of Slovenia's allocation of 7.
The LDS formed coalitions ruling the governments of Slovenia from 1992 to 2004, with an interruption for a few months in 2000. The first Prime Minister of Slovenia
from LDS was Janez Drnovšek
, who later became the President of Slovenia
in 2002 and was succeeded by Anton Rop
, former Finance Minister.
At the 2004 elections, the LDS party suffered a considerable loss of votes. The Slovenian Democratic Party
became the largest party, and the LDS went into opposition. The party held 23 seats (22.8% votes) in the National Assembly until 2007, when 12 members resigned from the party.
Following the defeat of 2004, the party suffered a severe internal crisis. In 2005, the Anton Rop resigned as president and was succeeded by Jelko Kacin
. Two years later, a group led by Matej Lahovnik and former Secretary General of the Party, Gregor Golobič
, left the Liberal Democracy and founded a new social liberal
political party Zares
. In the same year, several prominent members left the party and joined the Social Democrats
, including the former Prime Minister Anton Rop
. Following these events, Jelko Kacin resigned as President and was succeeded by Katarina Kresal. Following Kresal's election as president, several other prominent members, including former Health Minister Dušan Keber, decided to leave the party.
Before the 2008 elections
the LDS joined up with the later victorious Social Democrats and Zares to form an unofficial coalition. The Liberal Democracy of Slovenia is now the smallest parliamentary party in Slovenia, its representation having dropped from 23 seats in 2004 to just five in 2008.
Parliamentary representation:
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
political party in Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
. It is led by Katarina Kresal
Katarina Kresal
Katarina Kresal is a Slovenian politician. She is the current Minister of the Interior.Born in Ljubljana, Kresal studied law at the University of Ljubljana. She entered politics in 2007, when she was elected as a compromise candidate for the president of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia...
and is a member of the Liberal International
Liberal International
Liberal International is a political international federation for liberal parties. Its headquarters is located at 1 Whitehall Place, London, SW1A 2HD within the National Liberal Club. It was founded in Oxford in 1947, and has become the pre-eminent network for liberal parties and for the...
and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party
The European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party is a European political party mainly active in the European Union, composed of 56 national-level liberal and liberal-democratic parties from across Europe...
. It was the party that dominated Slovenian politics
Politics of Slovenia
The politics of Slovenia takes place in a framework of a parliamentary representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Slovenia is the head of government, and of a multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the Government of Slovenia. Legislative power is vested in the...
between 1992 and 2004, when it lost the elections to the conservative Slovenian Democratic Party
Slovenian Democratic Party
The Slovenian Democratic Party , known until 2003 as the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia is a Slovenian centre-right liberal conservative and Christian democratic party...
, and subsequently suffered a political fragmentation. Today, it is the fourth largest party in Slovenia, with an electoral support of around 5.2 %.
In 1990, the well-known Slovenian sociologist, philosopher and cultural critic Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek
Slavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, critical theorist working in the traditions of Hegelianism, Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. He has made contributions to political theory, film theory, and theoretical psychoanalysis....
was the LDS' candidate for the Presidency of Slovenia (an auxiliary body of the President of the Republic, abolished in 1992).
At the European Parliament election
European Parliament election, 2004
Elections to the European Parliament were held from 10 June 2004 to 13 June 2004 in the 25 member states of the European Union, using varying election days according to local custom...
in 2004 LDS won 21.9% of the vote, which yielded 2 seats in the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
out of Slovenia's allocation of 7.
The LDS formed coalitions ruling the governments of Slovenia from 1992 to 2004, with an interruption for a few months in 2000. The first Prime Minister of Slovenia
Prime Minister of Slovenia
There have been six Prime Ministers of Slovenia since that country gained its independence in the breakup of Yugoslavia. Unlike the President of Slovenia, who is directly elected, the Prime Minister is appointed by the National Assembly, and must control a majority there in order to...
from LDS was Janez Drnovšek
Janez Drnovšek
Janez Drnovšek was a Slovenian liberal politician, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia , Prime Minister of Slovenia and President of Slovenia . He was born in Celje, Slovenia, then the Socialist Republic of Slovenia...
, who later became the President of Slovenia
President of Slovenia
The function of President of the Republic of Slovenia was established on 23 December 1991, when the National Assembly of Slovenia passed a new constitution as a result of independence from Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia....
in 2002 and was succeeded by Anton Rop
Anton Rop
Anton Rop is a Slovenian politician. He is currently a member of the National Assembly of Slovenia. He was the fourth Prime Minister of Slovenia, from 2002 to 2004. Until 2005 he was also the president of the Liberal Democratic Party , the legal successor of the Slovenian Association of Socialist...
, former Finance Minister.
At the 2004 elections, the LDS party suffered a considerable loss of votes. The Slovenian Democratic Party
Slovenian Democratic Party
The Slovenian Democratic Party , known until 2003 as the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia is a Slovenian centre-right liberal conservative and Christian democratic party...
became the largest party, and the LDS went into opposition. The party held 23 seats (22.8% votes) in the National Assembly until 2007, when 12 members resigned from the party.
Following the defeat of 2004, the party suffered a severe internal crisis. In 2005, the Anton Rop resigned as president and was succeeded by Jelko Kacin
Jelko Kacin
Jelko Kacin is a Slovenian politician and Member of the European Parliament. During the Slovenian Independence War he was the Secretary of Information of Slovenia. He founded the Slovenian Press Agency on 3 June 1991 and the war started on 27 June 1991...
. Two years later, a group led by Matej Lahovnik and former Secretary General of the Party, Gregor Golobič
Gregor Golobic
Gregor Golobič is a Slovenian politician. Since 2007, he has been serving as president of the left liberal party Zares. Between November 2008 and June 2011, he served as Minister for Science and Higher Education of Slovenia....
, left the Liberal Democracy and founded a new social liberal
Social liberalism
Social liberalism is the belief that liberalism should include social justice. It differs from classical liberalism in that it believes the legitimate role of the state includes addressing economic and social issues such as unemployment, health care, and education while simultaneously expanding...
political party Zares
Zares
Zares – Social Liberals is a social-liberal political party in Slovenia. Its president is Gregor Golobič, former Secretary General of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia and former close advisor to the late Janez Drnovšek, who had previously abandoned active political involvement due to...
. In the same year, several prominent members left the party and joined the Social Democrats
Social Democrats (Slovenia)
The Social Democrats is a centre-left political party in Slovenia, currently led by Borut Pahor. From 1993 until 2005, the party was known as the United List of Social Democrats .-Origins:...
, including the former Prime Minister Anton Rop
Anton Rop
Anton Rop is a Slovenian politician. He is currently a member of the National Assembly of Slovenia. He was the fourth Prime Minister of Slovenia, from 2002 to 2004. Until 2005 he was also the president of the Liberal Democratic Party , the legal successor of the Slovenian Association of Socialist...
. Following these events, Jelko Kacin resigned as President and was succeeded by Katarina Kresal. Following Kresal's election as president, several other prominent members, including former Health Minister Dušan Keber, decided to leave the party.
Before the 2008 elections
Slovenian parliamentary election, 2008
Parliamentary elections for the 90 deputies to the National Assembly of Slovenia were held on 21 September 2008. 17 parties filed to run in the election, including all nine parliamentary parties...
the LDS joined up with the later victorious Social Democrats and Zares to form an unofficial coalition. The Liberal Democracy of Slovenia is now the smallest parliamentary party in Slovenia, its representation having dropped from 23 seats in 2004 to just five in 2008.
Parliamentary representation:
Presidents
- Jožef ŠkolčJožef ŠkolcJožef Školč is a Slovenian left liberal politician. He is currently serving as State Secretary for the Relations with NGOs in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister of Slovenia....
(1990-1992) - Janez DrnovšekJanez DrnovšekJanez Drnovšek was a Slovenian liberal politician, President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia , Prime Minister of Slovenia and President of Slovenia . He was born in Celje, Slovenia, then the Socialist Republic of Slovenia...
(1992-2002) - Anton RopAnton RopAnton Rop is a Slovenian politician. He is currently a member of the National Assembly of Slovenia. He was the fourth Prime Minister of Slovenia, from 2002 to 2004. Until 2005 he was also the president of the Liberal Democratic Party , the legal successor of the Slovenian Association of Socialist...
(2002-2005) - Jelko KacinJelko KacinJelko Kacin is a Slovenian politician and Member of the European Parliament. During the Slovenian Independence War he was the Secretary of Information of Slovenia. He founded the Slovenian Press Agency on 3 June 1991 and the war started on 27 June 1991...
(2005-2007) - Katarina KresalKatarina KresalKatarina Kresal is a Slovenian politician. She is the current Minister of the Interior.Born in Ljubljana, Kresal studied law at the University of Ljubljana. She entered politics in 2007, when she was elected as a compromise candidate for the president of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia...
(from 2007)
Other prominent members
- Mojca Drčar MurkoMojca Drcar MurkoMojca Drčar Murko is a Slovenian politician and Member of the European Parliament. She is a member of Liberal Democracy of Slovenia, which is part of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe, and sits on the European Parliament's Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food...
- Irma Pavlinič Krebs
- Igor BavčarIgor BavčarIgor Bavčar is a Slovenian politician and manager. He rose to prominence during the Slovenian spring, when he served as chairman of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, the largest independent civil society movement in the Socialist Republic of Slovenia...
- Jože PirjevecJože PirjevecJože Pirjevec is a Slovene historian from Italy. He is one of the most prominent diplomatic historians of the west Balkans region, and member of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts....
Other prominent former members
- Slavoj ŽižekSlavoj ŽižekSlavoj Žižek is a Slovenian philosopher, critical theorist working in the traditions of Hegelianism, Marxism and Lacanian psychoanalysis. He has made contributions to political theory, film theory, and theoretical psychoanalysis....
- Gregor GolobičGregor GolobicGregor Golobič is a Slovenian politician. Since 2007, he has been serving as president of the left liberal party Zares. Between November 2008 and June 2011, he served as Minister for Science and Higher Education of Slovenia....
- Ivo VajglIvo VajglIvo Vajgl is a Slovenian politician and diplomat.-Political career:Born in Maribor, he studied at the University of Ljubljana. He was appointed foreign minister by Prime Minister Anton Rop on 6 July 2004, replacing Dimitrij Rupel, who left the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia party to join the...
- Dimitrij RupelDimitrij RupelDimitrij Rupel is a Slovenian politician.- Biography :Rupel was born in Ljubljana, in what was then the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, into a bourgeois family of former anti-fascist political emigrants from the Julian March .After receiving a bachelor's degree in comparative literature and...
- Jože DežmanJože DežmanJože Dežman is a Slovenian historian. He is currently the director of the National Museum of Contemporary History in Ljubljana....
See also
- LiberalismLiberalismLiberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
- Contributions to liberal theoryContributions to liberal theoryIndividual contributors to classical liberalism and political liberalism are associated with philosophers of the Enlightenment. Liberalism as a specifically named ideology begins in the late 18th century as a movement towards self-government and away from aristocracy...
- Liberalism worldwideLiberalism worldwideThis article gives information on liberalism in diverse countries around the world. It is an overview of parties that adhere more or less to the ideas of political liberalism and is therefore a list of liberal parties around the world....
- List of liberal parties
- Liberal democracyLiberal democracyLiberal democracy, also known as constitutional democracy, is a common form of representative democracy. According to the principles of liberal democracy, elections should be free and fair, and the political process should be competitive...
- Liberalism in SloveniaLiberalism in SloveniaThis article gives an overview of liberalism in Slovenia. It is limited to liberal parties with substantial support, mainly proved by having had a representation in parliament. The sign ⇒ means a reference to another party in that scheme...
External links
- Liberal Democracy of Slovenia Official site