The Union of Communists of Slovakia ( sk, Zväz komunistov Slovenska, ZKS) was a

communist party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

( Czech and Slovak Federative Republic) in 1991–1992. Juraj Janošovský was the party chairman.

Formation of the party

ZKS emerged from the Communist Refoundation Platform of KSS (''Platforma komunistickej obnovy KSS'', PKO), a faction formed inside the

Communist Party of Slovakia The Communist Party of Slovakia ( sk, Komunistická strana Slovenska, KSS) is a communist party in Slovakia, formed in 1992, through the merger of the Communist Party of Slovakia – 91 and the Communist League of Slovakia. The party is observer ...

(KSS) in 1990. In March 1991 PKO formed ZKS as a new party. ZKS was registered with the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic in Bratislava on March 19, 1991.

Political line

The formation of the party was announced at a press conference held in Bratislava on April 17, 1991. The chairman of the preparatory committee of the party was Pavel Koyš, former Minister of Culture. ZKS did not position itself as a successor party of the erstwhile

(KSS), and rejected what it labelled as 'Stalinist and neo-Stalinist' practices of the earlier communist government. ZKS pledged to apply Marxism-Leninism creatively, rejecting the notion of the

Dictatorship of the Proletariat In Marxist philosophy, the dictatorship of the proletariat is a condition in which the proletariat holds state power. The dictatorship of the proletariat is the intermediate stage between a capitalist economy and a communist economy, whereby the ...

and the role of the vanguard party. The party favoured an equal federation between the Czech Lands and Slovakia. ZKS positioned itself as a leftist alternative to the mainstream post-communist Party of the Democratic Left (SDL). The party had a significant number of former members of the

Slovak Academy of Sciences The Slovak Academy of Sciences ( sk, Slovenská akadémia vied, or SAV) is the main scientific and research institution in Slovakia fostering basic and strategic basic research. It was founded in 1942, closed after World War II, and then reestab ...

amongst its ranks.

Alliances

Ahead of the 1992 elections ZKS,

Communist Party of Slovakia – 91 Communist Party of Slovakia (in Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Slovenska – 91'', KSS '91) was a communist party in Slovakia from 1991 to 1992. KSS '91 was formed by orthodox elements of the original Communist Party of Slovakia (KSS), which opp ...

(KSS '91), the Bratislava Left Alternative (LA), the Workers Forum (FR) and the Party of Romani Integration formed a Slovak 'left bloc'. ZKS and KSS '91 were close, but there were certain key differences. KSS '91 adhered to the political line of

Alexander Dubček Alexander Dubček (; 27 November 1921 – 7 November 1992) was a Slovak politician who served as the First Secretary of the Presidium of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia (KSČ) (''de facto'' leader of Czechoslovak ...

, whilst ZKS sought to distance itself from the previous regime. Moreover, KSS '91 was politically close to the Communist Party of Bohemia and Moravia (KSČM) and obtained material support from their Czech brother party. ZKS had contacts with KSČM, and KSČM appealed to both ZKS and KSS '91 to join the KSČM-SDL Federation.

1992 elections

ZKS and KSS '91 decided to contest the elections jointly.Gonda, R. ''Politická levice na Slovensku''. Brno: Katedra politologie FSS MU However, the electoral legislation did not allow two parties to pool their votes together to reach the electoral threshold. ZKS and KSS '91 opted for a Solomonic solution, contesting under the KSS '91 banner for the Slovak parliamentary election and under the ZKS banner for the federal parliamentary election. The ZKS-KSS '91 alliance in the federal election, participating with the ZKS registration, fielded 28 candidates for the House of the Peoples and 26 candidates for the House of the Nations. The ZKS candidature obtained 23,487 votes (0.76% of the votes in Slovakia).

Unification Congress

Following the June 1992 elections, ZKS and KSS '91 speeded up the process of uniting the two parties. At an unification congress held in Banská Bystrica held on August 29, 1992 (anniversary of the

Slovak National Uprising The Slovak National Uprising ( sk, Slovenské národné povstanie, abbreviated SNP) was a military uprising organized by the Slovak resistance movement during World War II. This resistance movement was represented mainly by the members of the ...

), ZKS and KSS '91 merged into a new

(KSS). The new KSS inherited the legal personality of ZKS. Vladimír Ďaďo of KSS '91 became the chairman of the new party and Ladislav Jača of ZKS the General Secretary.

References

{{Political parties in Slovakia, state=expanded Communist parties in Slovakia Defunct political parties in Slovakia Political parties established in 1991 Political parties disestablished in 1992 1991 establishments in Czechoslovakia