League of Communists of Slovenia

League of Communists of Slovenia
Zveza Komunistov Slovenije
Leader see full list below
Founded 1937
Dissolved 1990
Headquarters Ljubljana, SR Slovenia, SFR Yugoslavia
Ideology Market socialism, Titoism, Communism, Marxism-Leninism
Political position Left wing
Official colours - Red
Politics of Slovenia
Political parties
Elections
Slovenian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia

The League of Communists of Slovenia (ZKS) was the Slovenian branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1989. It was established in April 1937 as the Communist Party of Slovenia, as the first autonomous sub-national branch of the Yugoslav Communist Party.

Its initial autonomy was further amplified with the Yugoslav constitution of 1974, which devolved greater power to the various republic level branches.

In 1989 Slovenia passed amendments to its constitution that asserted its sovereignty over the federation and its right to secede. These amendments were bitterly opposed by the leadership of Serbia under Slobodan Milošević. On January 23, 1990, the Slovene delegation, headed by Milan Kučan, left the Party Congress of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, leading to the collapse of the all-Yugoslav party.

Shortly thereafter, the League of Communists of Slovenia changed its name to the Party of Democratic Reform (Stranka demokratične prenove - SDP), and negotiated with the Democratic Opposition of Slovenia the establishment of a multi-party system. In April 1990, the reformed Communists lost the elections to the DEMOS coalition. In 1992, they ceased to be the largest left wing party and entered a period of radical transformation, which gained momentum with the election of Borut Pahor as the party chairman. Their legal successor, the Social Democrats (SD) are currently the largest party of the ruling left wing coalition in Slovenia.

Leaders

Secretaries of the Central Committee of the League of Communists

  1. Franc Leskošek (1943 - 1946) (b.1897 - d.1983)
  2. Edvard Kardelj (1946 - 1948) (b.1910 - d.1979)
  3. Miha Marinko (1948 - 1966) (b.1900 - d.1983)
  4. Albert Jakopic (1966 - 1968) (b.1914 - d.1996)
  5. Franc Popit (March 1969 - April 1982) (b.1921)
  6. Andrej Marinc (April 1982 - May 1986) (b.1930)
  7. Milan Kučan (May 1986 - May 1990) (b.1941)

Other influential leaders

See also