Liberal Democracy of Slovenia

Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (Slovene: Liberalna demokracija Slovenije, LDS) is a liberal political party in Slovenia. From 30 June 2007 till 15 December 2011, it was led by Katarina Kresal who resigned after the failure of the party to win the entry to the Slovenian National Assembly on 2011 Slovenian parliamentary election. The party is a member of the Liberal International and the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party.

The LDS dominated Slovenian politics during the first decade folowing independence. Except for a brief interruption in 2000, it held the parliamentary majority between 1994 and 2004, when it lost the election to the conservative Slovenian Democratic Party. The loss was followed by decline, infighting and political fragmentation. In the runup to the 2008 election the LDS joined in an unofficial coalition with the Social Democrats and Zares, but lost nearly 80% of its seats, dropping from 23 to just 5 and becoming the smallest parliamentary party. In the 2011 Slovenian parliamentary election on 4 December 2011, its support collapsed even further; it won only 1.48% of the vote, not reaching the parliamentary threshold of 4%.^[2]

History

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).

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 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. 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, Anton Rop resigned as president and was succeeded by Jelko Kacin. Two years later, a group led by Matej Lahovnik and the former Secretary General of the party Gregor Golobič left the LDS and founded a new social liberal political party called Zares, while several other prominent members left for 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 as well.

Parliamentary representation

Prominent members

Presidents

• Jožef Školč (1990−1992)
• Janez Drnovšek (1992−2002)
• Anton Rop (2002−2005)
• Jelko Kacin (2005−2007)
• Katarina Kresal (2007−2011)

Other prominent members

• Mojca Drčar Murko
• Jože Pirjevec

Other prominent former members

• Igor Bavčar
• Jože Dežman
• Gregor Golobič
• Irma Pavlinič Krebs
• Dimitrij Rupel
• Ivo Vajgl
• Slavoj Žižek

See also

• List of liberal parties
• Liberalism in Slovenia

References

1. ^ Day, Alan John; East, Roger; Thomas, Richard (2002), "Liberal Democracy of Slovenia", A political and economic dictionary of Eastern Europe (Routledge): p. 331, http://books.google.de/books?id=dt2TXexiKTgC&printsec=frontcover&dq=day+east+thomas+political+dictionary+eastern+europe&hl=de&ei=AJjATsP3DYSLswa46oH2Ag&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDEQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Liberal%20Democracy&f=false, retrieved 14 November 2011 
2. ^ "Republic of Slovenia Early Elections for Deputies to the National Assembly 2011: Election results". National Electoral Commission. http://volitve.gov.si/dz2011/en/rezultati/rezultati_slo.html. Retrieved 16 December 2011. 

External links

• Liberal Democracy of Slovenia Official site