The League of Communists of Slovenia ( sl, Zveza komunistov Slovenije, ZKS; sh, Savez komunista Slovenije) was the

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

n branch of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, the sole legal party of

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

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.

History

In 1989 Slovenia passed amendments to its constitution that asserted its sovereignty over the federation, its right to

secede Secession is the withdrawal of a group from a larger entity, especially a political entity, but also from any organization, union or military alliance. Some of the most famous and significant secessions have been: the former Soviet republics l ...

and set foundations to a

multi-party system In political science, a multi-party system is a political system in which multiple political parties across the political spectrum run for national elections, and all have the capacity to gain control of government offices, separately or in ...

. These amendments were bitterly opposed by the leadership of

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

under Slobodan Milošević. On 23 January 1990, the Slovene delegation, headed by

Milan Kučan Milan Kučan (; born 14 January 1941) is a Slovene politician who served as the first President of Slovenia from 23 December 1991 until 22 December 2002. Before being president of Slovenia, he was the 13th President of the Presidency of SR Slov ...

, left the

Party Congress The terms party conference (UK English), political convention ( US and Canadian English), and party congress usually refer to a general meeting of a political party. The conference is attended by certain delegates who represent the party membe ...

of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia, leading to the collapse of the all-Yugoslav party. On 4 February 1990 the League of Communists of Slovenia changed its name to the League of Communists of Slovenia-Party of Democratic Reform (''Zveza komunistov Slovenije-Stranka demokratične prenove'' - ZKS-SDP), and shortly afterwards began negotiations with the

Democratic Opposition of Slovenia Democratic Opposition of Slovenia, also known as the 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 ...

for the establishment of a multi-party system. In April 1990, the reformed Communists lost the elections to the

DEMOS coalition Democratic Opposition of Slovenia, also known as the 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 ...

. 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 Borut Pahor (; born 2 November 1963) is a Slovenian politician who served as President of Slovenia from 2012 to 2022. He previously served as Prime Minister of Slovenia from November 2008 to February 2012. A longtime member and former presi ...

as the party chairman. The same year, the party was renamed to Social Democratic Renewal (''Socialdemokratska prenova''). On 29 May 1993 they merged with several other left-wing parties into United List of Social Democrats (ZLSD), later renamed to

Social Democrats Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote so ...

(SD).

Party leaders

Franc Leskošek Frank Leskošek ( nom de guerre Luka; 9 December 1897 Celje – 5 July 1983 Ljubljana) was a Yugoslav politician and partisan commander. Biography Born in Celje, Slovenia, Leskošek worked as a locksmith in his youth. He was drafted in to the ...

(1937–1945) (1897–1983) * Boris Kidrič (1945–1946) (1912–1953) *

Miha Marinko Miha Marinko (8 September 1900 – 19 August 1983) was a Slovenian revolutionary and communist statesman who served as Prime Minister of Slovenia The prime minister of Slovenia, officially the president of the Government of the Republic of Slove ...

(1946–1966) (1900–1983) * Albert Jakopič (October 1966– December 1968) (1914–1996) *

Franc Popit The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' (King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th centu ...

(December 1968 – April 1982) (1921–2013) * Andrej Marinc (April 1982 – May 1986) (born 1930) *

(May 1986 – December 1989) (born 1941) *

Ciril Ribičič Ciril Ribičič (born 30 June 1947) is a Slovenian jurist, politician and author. Since 2000, he has served as member of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia. He was born in Ljubljana, then part of the People's Republic of Slovenia in former Yugos ...

(December 1989 – May 1990) (born 1947) Other influential leaders *

Edvard Kardelj Edvard Kardelj (; 27 January 1910 – 10 February 1979), also known by the pseudonyms Bevc, Sperans and Krištof, was a Yugoslav politician and economist. He was one of the leading members of the Communist Party of Slovenia before World War II ...

(1910–1979) * Tone Tomšič (1910–1942) *

Vida Tomšič Vida Tomšič ''née'' Bernot (26 June 1913 – 10 December 1998) was a Slovenian communist before World War II, Yugoslav Partisans, Partisan fighter during the War, prominent communist politician, women's activist, and Order of the People's Hero, ...

(1913–1998) *

Boris Kraigher Boris Kraigher (February 14, 1914 – January 4, 1967) was a Slovenian communist politician. Kraigher served as the president of the Executive Council of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia from December 15, 1953 to June 25, 1962. He was a member ...

(1914–1967) * Lidija Šentjurc (1911–2000) *

Ivan Maček Ivan Maček, nom de guerre Matija (28 May 1908 – 10 July 1993), was a Yugoslav Communist politician from Slovenia who served as the President of the People's Assembly of SR Slovenia from 1963 to 1967. Biography Maček was born in Spodnj ...

(1908–1993) *

Sergej Kraigher Sergej Kraigher (30 May 1914 – 17 January 2001) was a Yugoslav communist politician from Slovenia who served as the President of the Presidency of Yugoslavia from 1981 to 1982. During World War II, he fought in the Yugoslav Resistance Mo ...

(1914–2001) *

Boris Ziherl Boris may refer to: People * Boris (given name), a male given name *:''See'': List of people with given name Boris * Boris (surname) * Boris I of Bulgaria (died 907), the first Christian ruler of the First Bulgarian Empire, canonized after his ...

(1910–1976) * Stane Dolanc (1925–1999) * Mitja Ribičič (1919–2013) *

Prežihov Voranc Prežihov Voranc (10 August 1893 – 18 February 1950) was the pen name of Lovro Kuhar, a Slovene writer and communist political activist. Voranc's literary reputation was established during the 1930s with a series of Slovene novels and short ...

(1893–1950) * Dragotin Gustinčič (1882–1974) * Stane Kavčič (1919–1987) *

Viktor Avbelj Viktor Avbelj (February 26, 1914 – April 6, 1993) was a Yugoslav Partisan and Slovenian politician. He was a member of the League of Communists of Slovenia. As a student, he joined the Communist Party in 1937. From September to December 1942, h ...

(1914–1993) *

Vladimir Krivic Vladimir may refer to: Names * Vladimir (name) for the Bulgarian, Croatian, Czech, Macedonian, Romanian, Russian, Serbian, Slovak and Slovenian spellings of a Slavic name * Uladzimir for the Belarusian version of the name * Volodymyr for the Ukr ...

(1914–1996) *

Ivan Regent Ivan () is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name (English: John) from Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was Bulgari ...

(1884–1967) * Jože Potrč (1903–1963) * Aleš Bebler (1907–1981) * Joža Vilfan (1908–1987) * Mirko Košir (1905–1951) *

Angela Vode Angela Vode (; 5 January 1892 – 5 May 1985) was a Slovenian pedagogue, Feminism, feminist author and human rights activist. An early member of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia, she was expelled from the Party in 1939 because of criticism agains ...

(1892–1985) * Dušan Kermavner (1903–1975) * France Klopčič (1903–1986) *

Dušan Pirjevec Dušan Pirjevec, known by his nom de guerre Ahac (20 March 1921 – 4 August 1977), was a Slovenian Partisan, literary historian and philosopher. He was one of the most influential public intellectuals in post–World War II Slovenia. Earl ...

(1921–1977) *

Franc Šetinc The franc is any of various units of currency. One franc is typically divided into 100 centimes. The name is said to derive from the Latin inscription ''francorum rex'' ( King of the Franks) used on early French coins and until the 18th cent ...

(1929–2016) * Janez Vipotnik (1917–1998) * Vinko Hafner (1920–2015) * Jože Smole (1927–1996)

Electoral results

Presidential

National Assembly

References