The Democratic Party (, DS) was a

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

Slovakia Slovakia, officially the Slovak Republic, 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 west, and the Czech Republic to the northwest. Slovakia's m ...

, active between 1989 and 2006.

History

The party emerged from the Democratic Party Party of Slovak Revival (SSO) which had been a

bloc party Bloc Party are an English Rock music, rock band that was formed in London, England, London in 1999 by co-founders Kele Okereke (lead vocals, rhythm guitar, piano, sampler) and Russell Lissack (lead guitar). Their first four albums all featur ...

within the communist-dominated National Front of the

ČSSR The Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, (Czech and Slovak: ''Československá socialistická republika'', ČSSR) known from 1948 to 1960 as the Czechoslovak Republic (''Československá republika)'', Fourth Czechoslovak Republic, or simply Czech ...

since 1948. In December 1989, at the end of the

Velvet Revolution The Velvet Revolution () or Gentle Revolution () was a non-violent transition of power in what was then Czechoslovakia, occurring from 17 November to 28 November 1989. Popular demonstrations against the one-party government of the Communist Pa ...

that ended the communist rule in Czechoslovakia, the SSO decided to change its name to Democratic Party, claiming to be a continuation of the historical Democratic Party that had existed from 1944 to 1948 and had been the strongest party in Slovakia during the immediate post-war period before the communist takeover. The DS won 7 seats out of 150 in the Slovak parliament (

Slovak National Council The Slovak National Council (, SNR) was an organisation that was formed at various times in the 19th and 20th centuries to act as the highest representative of the Slovak nation. It originated in the mid-19th century as a focus for Slovak nationali ...

) and no seats in the federal parliament in 1990, but no seats in any parliament in 1992. In 1994, the party was "recreated" by a merge with the parties: *Občiansko-demokratická únia (ODÚ, Civic Democratic Union, i.e. the remnants of the former

Public Against Violence Public Against Violence (, VPN) was a political movement established in Bratislava, Slovakia in November 1989. It was the Slovak counterpart of the Czech Civic Forum. Velvet Revolution Public Against Violence (VPN) was founded during the Velvet ...

party) *Občianska demokratická strana Slovenska ( Civic Democratic Party of Slovakia) *Demokrati 92 (Democrats 92) *Hnutie česko-slovenského porozumenia (Movement of Czech-Slovak comprehension) *Zelená liga (The Green League) The new chairman of the party was P. Hagyari, and the vice-chairman was

Ivan Mikloš Ivan Mikloš (born 2 June 1960) is a Slovak politician who served as Minister of Finance of Slovakia from 2002 to 2006, and Deputy Prime Minister for Economy between 1998 and 2002. Biography Mikloš became the only opposition member of the Supe ...

, the finance minister of Slovakia in 2010 - 2012. In the 1994 parliamentary election, the party run for parliamentary seats together with the Strana podnikateľov a živnostníkov (Party of Entrepreneurs and businessmen), but again won no seats. Hagyari was replaced by

Ján Langoš Ján Langoš (2 August 1946, in Banská Bystrica – 15 June 2006, in Drienovec) was a Slovak politician associated with the Slovakia Democratic Party. He was one of the key dissidents during the era of Communist Czechoslovakia. He served as a ...

, the former minister of the interior of Czechoslovakia, in 1995. In the 1998 election, the party run for parliamentary seats within the coalition (later party)

Slovak Democratic Coalition The Slovak Democratic Coalition (, SDK) was an electoral platform—constituted as an instrumental political party—for the 1998 parliamentary election. The party split in 2000, when some members rejoined their original parties, while others, l ...

(SDK), so that many candidates of the Democratic Party got into the parliament as candidates of the SDK. In the course of the subsequent dissolution of the Slovak Democratic Coalition in 2001, some members left the Democratic Party (Ivan Mikloš, for example, became a chairman of the newly founded

Slovak Democratic and Christian Union Slovak may refer to: * Something from, related to, or belonging to Slovakia (''Slovenská republika'') * Slovaks, a Western Slavic ethnic group * Slovak language, an Indo-European language that belongs to the West Slavic languages * Slovak, Arkan ...

), and

František Šebej František Šebej (born 11 May 1947) is a Slovak politician and academic. He was member of the National Council of Slovakia between 1998 and 2002 and once more from 2010 until 2018. Between 1990 and 1992 he was member of the House of the Nation o ...

became the new chairman for short time and was quickly replaced by

Ľudovít Kaník Ľudovít Kaník (born 1 September 1965 in Hnúšťa) is a Slovakia, Slovak politician and member of the Democratic Party (Slovakia, 1989), Democratic Party of Slovakia. He also led Slovak Civic Democratic Party (Czech Republic), Civic Democratic ...

. In the 2002 election, the party run for parliamentary seats together with the parties

Civic Conservative Party The Civic Conservative Party (, OKS) is a centre-right liberal conservative political party in Slovakia. It has one seat in the National Council, following the 2023 election. It has also representation at regional and local level. The OKS was ...

(OKS, led by

) and Liberal-Democratic Union (LDÚ, led by

Ján Budaj Ján Budaj (born 10 February 1952) is a Slovak politician and environmental activist. He is mostly known by his participation in the Velvet Revolution. He served as the Minister of Environment from 21 March 2020, in the cabinets of Igor Matovič a ...

), both of which arose in the course of the dissolution of the SDK. Shortly before the election however the party withdraw its candidature and recommended its voters to vote for the

(SDKÚ) of

Mikuláš Dzurinda Mikuláš Dzurinda (; born 4 February 1955) is a Slovak politician who was the prime minister of Slovakia from 30 October 1998 to 4 July 2006. Dzurinda is the founder and leader of the Slovak Democratic Coalition (SDK) and then the Slovak Democr ...

. This was due to an agreement with the SDKÚ, according to which Ľudovít Kaník, the chairman of the Democratic Party, received one seat in the new 2002 government - the seat of the minister of social affairs and family. After a scandal, however, Kaník left the government in October 2005 and talks about a merge of the Democratic Party with the SDKÚ were announced. The extraordinary party congress held on December 17, 2005 approved that the party would merge with the SDKÚ (whose name then changed to SDKÚ-DS). The merger was approved by a SDKÚ congress held on January 21, 2006.

Election results

Federal Assembly

National Council

References

{{Authority control 1989 establishments in Slovakia 2006 disestablishments in Slovakia Political parties established in 1989 Political parties disestablished in 2006 Defunct political parties in Slovakia Political parties in Czechoslovakia Conservative parties in Slovakia Liberal conservative parties in Slovakia Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party