Slovenian National Party
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Slovene National Party
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| Leader | Zmago Jelinčič |
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| Founded | 17 March 1991 |
| Headquarters | Tivolska 13, Ljubljana, Slovenia |
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| Ideology | Populism, Left Wing, Nationalism, Titoism (minor factions) |
| International affiliation | None |
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| Website http://www.sns.si/ |
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The Slovene National Party (Slovenska nacionalna Stranka) is a political party in Slovenia led by Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti. At the last legislative elections, on 3 October 2004, the party won 6.3% of the popular vote and six out of ninety seats. The party is renowned for its Euroscepticism and opposes Slovenia's membership in the NATO. It also opposes historical revisionism of 1941-1945 historic events in Slovenia and, to an extent, is sympathetic towards the former Yugoslav Communist regime of Josip Broz Tito. Although refuses to position itself within a left-right political spectrum, its president Zmago Jelinčič Plemeniti defined himself as being left wing in a 2000 interview for the magazine Mladina.
The party has been led by Zmago Jelinčič since its founding in 1991. Jelinčič has often shifted the focus of the party's ideology in order to suit the chaging popular sentiment in Slovenia. In the early 1990s the party led a chauvinist discourse against immigrants from former Yugoslav republics. This was somehow rectified later, but the party continues to voice a strongly anti-Croatian discourse. Among other things, Jelinčič proposed that the national border with Croatia be sealed, apart from two custom stations for trade, until the territorial dispute with Croatia is resolved (primarily the issue of the maritime border on the Gulf of Piran and several small sectors along the land border). He also advocates improving relationships with Serbia and opposes the independence of Kosovo. The party loudly demands better treatment of Slovene minorities in Italy, Austria and Hungary.
The party's ideology has been strongly anti-Catholic and has advocated a firm laicist position. Its leaders have been frequently accused of chauvinist and even racist attitudes towards certain minorities, particularly the Slovenia's Roma population. The party also strongly opposes Gay rights and several of its MPs (especially the Party's former deputy chairman Sašo Peče) have uttered numerous openly homophobic remarks.
[edit] Party foundations, leadership and program
The party was founded on 17 March 1991 by Zmago Jelinčič. Although Jelinčič has maintained a strong hold on the party's leadership ever since, the party has suffered several internal fractures and divisions over the years, with many prominent members abandoning it. This however has not seriously affected the party's structure, even though the ideologies of both MPs and party's membership tend to sometimes differ from Jelinčič's stand.
The party receives support from various strands of society; these range from Communists nostalgics, up to more moderate voters, especially among young people. The party advocates State's intervention into economic matters, strict economic regulations, laicism, development of basic and applicative sciences, and civic education in public schools. The party also calls for a change of the national flag (regarded by the party's program as "Pan-Slavic") and the coat of arms (called "a-historical and hippy-inspired [referring to Marko Pogačnik] fabrication" by Jelinčič), reform of the justice system and isolation from the European Union and NATO. The party views can be described as being both nationalistic and socialist.
At the second democratic elections in Slovenia, in 1992, the SNS won more than 10% of the popular vote, which declined to around 6% in the 2004 legislative elections. The party Motto is "with no hair on the tongue" (equivalent to "calling spade a spade"). The takes pride of the party's rejection of all standards of politically correct speech. For example, when Jelinčič was asked what the prime difference between SNS and the leftist Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia is, he replied: "A young woman from time to time."
The traditional Kozler's map of United Slovenia is one of the official party symbols. Jelinčič also written a book entitled Hrvatje v luči zgodovinske resnice ("Croats in light of historical truth"), originally published under the pseudonym "Psunjski", where he harshly criticised Croatia and praised Slovenia and Serbia, as well as Tito's policies and the anti-fascist struggle.
Parliamentary representation: 
[edit] External links
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