The Slovenian Democratic Union (, acronym SDZ) was a Slovene liberal

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

, active between 1989 and 1991, during the

democratization Democratization, or democratisation, is the structural government transition from an democratic transition, authoritarian government to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction ...

and the secession of the

Republic of Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

from

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

History

The party was founded on 11 January 1989 in the Cankar Hall in

Ljubljana {{Infobox settlement , name = Ljubljana , official_name = , settlement_type = Capital city , image_skyline = {{multiple image , border = infobox , perrow = 1/2/2/1 , total_widt ...

, and

Dimitrij Rupel Dimitrij Rupel (born 7 April 1946) is a Slovenian politician. Early life and education Rupel was born in Ljubljana, in what was then the PR Slovenia, into a bourgeois family of former anti-fascist political emigrants from the Julian March (hi ...

was elected as its president. It was one of the first political party established in opposition to the

Communist Communism () is a sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology within the socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a socioeconomic order centered on common ownership of the means of production, di ...

regime. It was founded mostly by intellectuals around the alternative journal '' Nova revija'' and it was initially called Slovenian Democratic Union of Reason. In December 1989, it joined the

Democratic Opposition of Slovenia Democratic Opposition of Slovenia, also known as DEMOS (in Slovenian: ''Demokratična opozicija Slovenije''), was a coalition of centre-right political parties created by an agreement between the Slovenian Democratic Union, the Social Democrat ...

, together with the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia, the Slovene Christian Democrats, the

Slovenian People's Party The Slovenian People's Party (, , Slovene abbreviation SLS ) is a conservative, agrarian, Christian democratic political party in Slovenia. Formed in 1988 under the name of Slovenian Peasant Union as the first democratic political organization i ...

and the Greens of Slovenia. In April 1990, the coalition won the first free elections in Slovenia after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, gaining around 55% of the popular vote. The Slovenian Democratic Union received around 9,5% of the vote, becoming the third largest party in the coalition and the fifth in the

Slovenian National Assembly The National Assembly (, or ; short form ''državni zbor'') is the general representative body of Slovenia. According to the Constitution of Slovenia and the Constitutional Court of Slovenia, it is the major part of the distinctively incomple ...

. Despite the relatively modest result, members of the party covered several key positions in the new cabinet led by the Christian Democrat

Lojze Peterle Alojz "Lojze" Peterle (born 5 July 1948) is a Slovenian politician. He is a member of New Slovenia, part of the European People's Party. He served as Prime Minister of Slovenia from 1990 to 1992, Leader of the Christian Democrats from the found ...

, such as the Ministry of Interior, Defence, Justice, Information. Besides, the party member

France Bučar France Bučar (2 February 1923 – 21 October 2015) was a Slovenian politician, legal expert and author. Between 1990 and 1992, he served as the first speaker of the freely elected Slovenian Parliament. He was the one to formally declare the in ...

was elected president of the

Slovenian parliament The Slovenian Parliament () is the informal designation of the general representative democracy, representative body of the Slovenian nation and the legislature, legislative body of the Republic of Slovenia. According to the Constitution of Slo ...

. 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. 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 (, LDS) is a social-liberal political party in Slovenia. Between 1992 and 2004, it (and its main predecessor, the Liberal Democratic Party) was the largest (and ruling) party in the country. In the 2011 Slovenian pa ...

. 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, 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 The Slovenian Democratic Party (, SDS), formerly the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia (, SDSS), is a conservative parliamentary party; it is also one of the largest parties in Slovenia, with approximately 30,000 reported members in 2013. It ...

and the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia.

Prominent members

* Jelko Kacin *

Janez Janša Ivan Janša (; born 17 September 1958), better known as Janez Janša (), is a Slovenian politician who served three times as a prime minister of Slovenia, a position he had held from 2004 to 2008, from 2012 to 2013, and from 2020 to 2022. Since ...

Igor Bavčar Igor Bavčar (born 28 November 1955) is a Slovenes, 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 ...

Tine Hribar Tine Hribar (born 28 January 1941 as Velentin 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 S ...

Spomenka Hribar Spomenka Hribar (born 25 January 1941) 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 Firs ...

Peter Jambrek Peter Jambrek (born 14 January 1940) is a Slovenian sociologist, jurist, politician and intellectual. He is considered among the fathers of the current Constitution of Slovenia, Slovenian Constitution, and the most influential public intellectual ...

Rudi Šeligo Rudi Šeligo (; 14 May 1935 – 22 January 2004) was a Slovenian writer, playwright, essayist and politician. Together with Lojze Kovačič and Drago Jančar, he is considered one of the foremost Slovenian modernist writers of the post-World W ...

* Veno Taufer * Ivo Urbančič * Peter Vodopivec * Tone Peršak

References

{{Authority control 1989 establishments in Slovenia 1991 disestablishments in Slovenia Defunct liberal political parties Defunct political parties in Slovenia Liberal parties in Slovenia Organizations based in Ljubljana Organizations of the Revolutions of 1989 Political history of Slovenia Political parties disestablished in 1991 Political parties established in 1989 Pro-independence parties Slovenian Spring

History

Prominent members

See also

References