Slovenian Democratic Union
Encyclopedia
- This article is about the Slovenian political party, active between 1989 and 1991. For the political party, established in the Julian MarchJulian MarchThe Julian March is a former political region of southeastern Europe on what are now the borders between Croatia, Slovenia, and Italy...
in 1946, see Slovene Democratic Union, Italy.
The Slovenian Democratic Union was a 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...
n liberal
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
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
, active between 1989 and 1991, during the democratization
Democratization
Democratization is the transition to a more democratic political regime. It may be the transition from an authoritarian regime to a full democracy, a transition from an authoritarian political system to a semi-democracy or transition from a semi-authoritarian political system to a democratic...
and the secession of the Republic of Slovenia from Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
.
It was founded on December 1988, as one of the first political party established in opposition to the Communist regime. It was founded mostly by intellectuals around the alternative journal Nova revija
Nova revija
Nova revija is a Slovenian publishing house and cultural institute that developed from the literary journal with the same name.- The magazine :...
and it was initially called Slovenian Democratic Union of Reason. In January 1989, the first congress of the party was held in the Cankar Hall
Cankar Hall
Cankar Hall is a cultural and congress center in Ljubljana, Slovenia. It stands on the central Republic Square , opposite the Parliament of Slovenia....
in Ljubljana
Ljubljana
Ljubljana is the capital of Slovenia and its largest city. It is the centre of the City Municipality of Ljubljana. It is located in the centre of the country in the Ljubljana Basin, and is a mid-sized city of some 270,000 inhabitants...
, and Dimitrij Rupel
Dimitrij Rupel
Dimitrij 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...
was elected as president.
In December 1989, it joined the Democratic Opposition of Slovenia
Democratic Opposition of Slovenia
Democratic Opposition of Slovenia, also known as the DEMOS coalition was a coalition of democratic political parties, created by an agreement between the Slovenian Democratic Union, the Social Democrat Alliance of Slovenia, the Slovene Christian Democrats, the Farmers' Alliance and the Greens of...
, together with the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia, the Slovene Christian Democrats
Slovene Christian Democrats
The Slovene Christian Democrats was a Christian Democrat political party in Slovenia between 1989 and 2000.It was founded as the Slovene Christian Social Movement in March of 1989. Its first president was Peter Kovačič Peršin...
, the Slovenian People's Party
Slovenian People's Party
The Slovenian People's Party is a rural-based conservative political party in Slovenia. Formed in 1988 under the name of Slovenian Peasant Union as the first non-Communist political organization in Yugoslavia, it merged with the Slovene Christian Democrats to form the present-day party in 2000...
and the Greens of Slovenia
Greens of Slovenia
The Greens of Slovenia is a political party in Slovenia.At the parliamentary election in September 2008, the party won no seats.-External links:*...
. In April 1990, the coalition won the first free elections in Slovenia after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, gaining around 54% of the popular vote. The Slovenian Democratic Union received around 9,4% of the vote, becoming the third largest party in the coalition and the fifth in the Slovenian National Assembly. Despite the relatively modest result, members of the party covered several key positions in the new cabinet led by the Christian Democrat Lojze Peterle
Lojze Peterle
Alojz "Lojze" Peterle is a Slovenian politician. He was the leader of the Slovene Christian Democrats from the founding of the party in 1990 until it merged with the Slovenian People's Party in 2000. Between 1990 and 1992, he was the president of the first freely elected Slovenian government, and...
, such as the Ministry of Interior, Defence, Justice, Information. Besides, the party member France Bučar
France Bucar
France Bučar is a Slovenian politician, legal expert and author. Between 1990 and 1992, he served as the first chairman of the freely elected Slovenian Parliament. He was the one to formally declare the independence of Slovenia on June 25, 1991. He is considered as one of the founding fathers of...
was elected president of the Slovenian Parliament
Slovenian Parliament
The Slovenian Parliament is the informal designation of the general representative body of the Slovenian nation and the legislative body of the Republic of Slovenia....
.
After the independence of Slovenia, the party split into two. Its left liberal wing, led by the president Dimitrij Rupel, founded the Democratic Party, while the conservative wing, led by the minister of justice Rajko Pirnat established the centre-right National Democratic Party
National Democratic Party (Slovenia)
The National Democratic Party or NDS was a short lived Slovenian conservative political party, established with the split within the Slovenian Democratic Union in 1991....
. In the election of 1992, both parties suffered a defeat. The Democratic Party gained 5,01% of the popular vote, and in 1994, most of its members joined the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia
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...
. The National Democratic Party obtained 2,18% of the vote and no seats in Parliament. In 1993, the National Democrats joined the Slovene Christian Democrats
Slovene Christian Democrats
The Slovene Christian Democrats was a Christian Democrat political party in Slovenia between 1989 and 2000.It was founded as the Slovene Christian Social Movement in March of 1989. Its first president was Peter Kovačič Peršin...
, and in 1995 they switched to the Slovenian Social Democratic Party.
Despite its relatively small popular support, the Slovenian Democratic Union was one of the most influential parties in Slovenia between 1988 and 1991. After its dissolution, its former members have become influential members of other political formations.
The legal successors of the Slovenian Democratic Union are 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...
and the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia.
Prominent members
- 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...
- Hubert Požarnik
- 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...
- Janez JanšaJanez JanšaJanez Janša is a Slovenian politician who was Prime Minister of Slovenia from November 2004 to November 2008. He has also been President of the Slovenian Democratic Party since 1993...
- 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...
- France BučarFrance BucarFrance Bučar is a Slovenian politician, legal expert and author. Between 1990 and 1992, he served as the first chairman of the freely elected Slovenian Parliament. He was the one to formally declare the independence of Slovenia on June 25, 1991. He is considered as one of the founding fathers of...
- Tine HribarTine HribarTine Hribar is a Slovenian philosopher and public intellectual, notable for his interpretations of Heidegger and his role in the democratization of Slovenia between 1988 and 1990, known as the Slovenian Spring...
- Spomenka HribarSpomenka HribarSpomenka Hribar is a Slovenian author, philosopher, sociologist, politician, columnist, and public intellectual. She was one of the most influential Slovenian intellectuals in the 1980s, and was frequently called "the First Lady of Slovenian Democratic Opposition", and "the Voice of Slovenian...
- Rajko Pirnat
- Peter JambrekPeter JambrekPeter Jambrek is a Slovenian sociologist, jurist, politician and intellectual. He is considered among the fathers of the current Slovenian Constitution and among the most influential public intellectuals in Slovenia....
- Rudi ŠeligoRudi ŠeligoRudi Šeligo was a Slovenian writer, playwright, essayist and politician. Together with Lojze Kovačič and Drago Jančar, he is considered as one of the foremost Slovenian modernist writers of the post-World War II period.- Life :...
- Veno TauferVeno TauferVeno Taufer is a Slovenian poet, essayist, translator and playwright. Together with Dane Zajc and Gregor Strniša, he is considered one of the foremost Slovenian modernist poets of the postwar era...
- Ivo UrbančičIvo UrbancicIvo Urbančič is a Slovenian philosopher. He is considered to be one of the fathers of the phenomenological school in Slovenia...
- Peter VodopivecPeter VodopivecPeter Vodopivec is a Slovenian historian and public intellectual.He was born in a Slovene family in Belgrade, Serbia, then capital of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. He studied history at the University of Ljubljana...
- Tone PeršakTone PeršakTone Peršak is a Slovene writer, politician, theatre director and journalist. He was elected to the first Slovenian National Assembly in 1992. He was also president of the Slovene Writers' Association for one term between 2001 and 2003....
Related articles
- Contributions to the Slovenian National ProgramContributions to the Slovenian National ProgramContributions to the Slovenian National Program , also known as Nova revija 57 or 57th edition of Nova revija was a special issue of the Slovenian opposition intellectual journal Nova revija, published in January 1987...
- Committee for the Defence of Human RightsCommittee for the Defence of Human RightsThe Committee for the Defence of Human Rights was a civil society organization in Slovenia, which functioned during the so-called Slovenian Spring between 1988 and 1990....