The Slovenian Democratic Union ( sl, Slovenska demokratična zveza, acronym SDZ) was a Slovene

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

, active between 1989 and 1991, during the democratization and the secession of the

Republic of 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, and ...

from

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

History

The party was founded on 11 January 1989 in the

Cankar Hall The Cankar Centre or Cankar Hall ( sl, Cankarjev dom) is the largest Slovenian convention, congress and culture center. The building was designed by the architect Edvard Ravnikar and was built at the southern edge of Republic Square in Ljubljana b ...

Ljubljana Ljubljana (also known by other historical names) is the capital and largest city of Slovenia. It is the country's cultural, educational, economic, political and administrative center. During antiquity, a Roman city called Emona stood in the are ...

, and

Dimitrij Rupel Dimitrij Rupel (born 7 April 1946) is a Slovenian politician. Early life and education Rupel was born in Ljubljana, in what was then the PR Slovenia, into a bourgeois family of former anti-fascist political emigrants from the Julian March (hi ...

was elected as its president. It was one of the first political party established in opposition to the Communist regime. It was founded mostly by intellectuals around the alternative journal '' Nova revija'' and it was initially called Slovenian Democratic Union of Reason. In December 1989, it joined 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 ...

, together with the

Social Democratic Party of Slovenia The Slovenian Democratic Party ( sl, Slovenska demokratska stranka, SDS), formerly the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia ( sl, Socialdemokratska stranka Slovenije, SDSS), is a conservative political party in Slovenia. It has been described as ...

, the Slovene Christian Democrats, the

Slovenian People's Party The Slovenian People's Party ( sl, Slovenska ljudska stranka, , Slovene abbreviation SLS ) is a conservative, agrarian, Christian-democratic political party in Slovenia. Formed in 1988 under the name of Slovenian Peasant Union as the first democ ...

and the

Greens of Slovenia Greens may refer to: *Leaf vegetables such as collard greens, mustard greens, spring greens, winter greens, spinach, etc. Politics Supranational * Green politics * Green party, political parties adhering to Green politics * Global Greens * Europ ...

. In April 1990, the coalition won the first free elections in Slovenia after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, gaining around 55% of the popular vote. The Slovenian Democratic Union received around 9,5% of the vote, becoming the third largest party in the coalition and the fifth in the

Slovenian National Assembly The National Assembly ( sl, Državni zbor Republike Slovenije, or ), is the general representative body of Slovenia. According to the Constitution of Slovenia and the Constitutional Court of Slovenia, it is the major part of the distinctively ...

. Despite the relatively modest result, members of the party covered several key positions in the new cabinet led by the Christian Democrat

Lojze Peterle Alojz "Lojze" Peterle (born 5 July 1948) is a Slovenian politician. He is a member of New Slovenia, part of the European People's Party. He served as Prime Minister of Slovenia from 1990 to 1992, Leader of the Christian Democrats from the foun ...

, such as the Ministry of Interior, Defence, Justice, Information. Besides, the party member

France Bučar France Bučar (2 February 1923 – 21 October 2015) was a Slovenian politician, legal expert and author. Between 1990 and 1992, he served as the first speaker of the freely elected Slovenian Parliament. He was the one to formally declare the inde ...

was elected president of the

Slovenian parliament The Slovenian Parliament ( sl, Slovenski parlament) is the informal designation of the general representative body of the Slovenian nation and the legislative body of the Republic of Slovenia. According to the Constitution of Slovenia, the gen ...

. After the independence of Slovenia, the party split into two. Its

left liberal Social liberalism (german: Sozialliberalismus, es, socioliberalismo, nl, Sociaalliberalisme), also known as new liberalism in the United Kingdom, modern liberalism, or simply liberalism in the contemporary United States, left-liberalism ...

wing, led by the president Dimitrij Rupel, founded the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, while the conservative wing, led by the minister of justice Rajko Pirnat established the centre-right National Democratic Party. In the election of 1992, both parties suffered a defeat. The Democratic Party gained 5,01% of the popular vote, and in 1994, most of its members joined the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia. The National Democratic Party obtained 2,18% of the vote and no seats in Parliament. In 1993, the National Democrats joined the Slovene Christian Democrats, and in 1995 they switched to the Slovenian Social Democratic Party. Despite its relatively small popular support, the Slovenian Democratic Union was one of the most influential parties in Slovenia between 1988 and 1991. After its dissolution, its former members have become influential members of other political formations. The legal successors of the Slovenian Democratic Union are the

Slovenian Democratic Party The Slovenian Democratic Party ( sl, Slovenska demokratska stranka, SDS), formerly the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia ( sl, Socialdemokratska stranka Slovenije, SDSS), is a conservative political party in Slovenia. It has been described as ...

and the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia.

Prominent members

Jelko Kacin Jelko Kacin (born 26 November 1955) is a Slovenian politician. During the Slovenian Independence War, he was the Secretary of Information of Slovenia. He founded the Slovenian Press Agency on 3 June 1991 and the war (also called the Ten-Day War ...

Janez Janša Ivan Janša (; born 17 September 1958), baptized and best known as Janez Janša (), is a Slovenian politician who served three times as a prime minister of Slovenia, a position he had held from 2004 to 2008, from 2012 to 2013, and from 2020 to 2 ...

Igor Bavčar Igor Bavčar (born 28 November 1955) is a Slovenian politician and manager. He rose to prominence during the Slovenian spring, when he served as chairman of the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, the largest independent civil society mo ...

Tine Hribar Tine Hribar (born 28 January 1941 as Velentin Hribar) is a Slovenian philosopher and public intellectual, notable for his interpretations of Heidegger and his role in the democratization of Slovenia between 1988 and 1990, known as the Slovenian ...

Spomenka Hribar Spomenka Hribar (born 25 January 1941) is a Slovenian author, philosopher, sociologist, politician, columnist, and public intellectual. She was one of the most influential Slovenian intellectuals in the 1980s, and was frequently called "the Firs ...

* Peter Jambrek *

Rudi Šeligo Rudi Šeligo (14 May 1935 – 22 January 2004) was a Slovenian writer, playwright, essayist and politician. Together with Lojze Kovačič and Drago Jančar, he is considered one of the foremost Slovenian modernist writers of the post-World War ...

* Veno Taufer * Ivo Urbančič * Peter Vodopivec * Tone Peršak

History

Prominent members

See also

See also