Origins (1989–1992) The origins of the modern-day party date from the end of 1989, when the
League of Communists of Slovenia decided to renounce its
absolute monopoly over political, social and economic life in the
Socialist Republic of Slovenia, and agreed to introduce a system of
political pluralism. On 23 January 1990, the Slovenian Communists left the
League of Communists of Yugoslavia and on 4 February 1990 renamed themselves to
League of Communists of Slovenia-Party of Democratic Renewal (
Zveza komunistov Slovenije-, ZKS-SDP). Former prominent Communist politician
Ciril Ribičič was elected as the party's new president. The party lost against the
Democratic Opposition of Slovenia (DEMOS) centre-right coalition at the first democratic elections in Slovenia in April 1990, gaining 17.3% of the popular vote. They nevertheless became the single largest party in Slovenia. Between 1990 and 1992, the party, which eventually became known solely as the Party of Democratic Renewal, remained in opposition against the
centre-right coalition government of
Lojze Peterle. After the fall of Peterle's cabinet in 1992, the party entered the first coalition government of
Janez Drnovšek, formed by the left wing of the dissolved DEMOS coalition (the
Social Democratic Party of Slovenia, the
Democratic Party of Slovenia and the
Greens of Slovenia). The same year, the party was renamed to
Social Democratic Renewal (), maintaining the same acronym, SDP.
Constitution of the United List (1992–1996) Prior to the 1992 general election intensive discussions were held and agreements reached between
left-oriented political parties and groups on an
electoral coalition. Thus just prior the
parliamentary election of 1992, an agreement was reached between the Social Democratic Renewal (SDP) and three smaller extra-parliamentary centre-left and left-wing parties (the Social Democratic Union, the Workers' Party of Slovenia and the
Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia) to form an electoral coalition under the name
United List. The newly formed coalition gained 13.6% of the popular vote, thus becoming the third political force in the country, after
Liberal Democracy of Slovenia and the
Slovene Christian Democrats. These three largest parties decided to form a government coalition, which soon became popularly known as the "grand coalition" (), under the leadership of Liberal Democrat
Prime Minister Janez Drnovšek. Until March 1994, the Social Democratic Party of Slovenia also participated in this government coalition. On 29 May 1993, a
congress was held in
Ljubljana at which the constitutive members of the United List decided to form a unified party. The new party was named the
United List of Social Democrats and
Janez Kocijančič was elected as its president. The party remained in government until January 1996, when it left the ruling coalition in disagreement over the government's
social welfare policies. Furthermore, several prominent members exited the party and re-established Democratic Party of Pensioners of Slovenia. In the general elections of 1996, the United List of Social Democrats suffered a substantial loss support, gaining only around 9% of the popular vote.
Pahor era (1996–2012) , party president between 1997 and 2012, served as
Prime Minister of Slovenia from 2008 to 2012, as well as
President of Slovenia from 2012 to 2022 In the period between 1996 and 2000, the party remained in opposition. On the third National Congress of the United List of Social Democrats in 1997 a new party president,
Borut Pahor, was elected. A gradual evolution towards more moderate positions started. In the election of 2000, the party rose to 12% of the vote and entered the centre-left coalition government led by Janez Drnovšek, while the party's president Borut Pahor was elected chairman of the
Slovenian National Assembly. In the general elections of 2004, the party gained around 10.2% of the vote and went into opposition against the centre-right government dominated by the
Slovenian Democratic Party. In the fifth party Congress held in 2005 in
Ljubljana, the decision was taken to shorten the party name to the
Social Democrats. Borut Pahor was confirmed as the party president, strengthening his positions against internal opposition from the left wing of the party. In the programmatic congress held in
Nova Gorica in July 2006, the party clearly distanciated itself against its
communist past, while its president publicly condemned the socialist regime in Slovenia and Yugoslavia established after
World War II. After the internal crisis in the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (LDS) following the loss of election in 2004, which resulted in the split of the party, the Social Democrats emerged as the main centre-left opposition force against the centre-right government led by
Janez Janša. In 2007, several prominent members of the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia, including former Prime Minister
Anton Rop, left their party and joined the Social Democrats. Following these developments, the Social Democrats became the second largest parliamentary party in Slovenia, after the Slovenian Democratic Party. In 2008, the Social Democrats signed a coalition agreement with the extra-parliamentary
Christian Socialists of Slovenia, and decided to set up a common election list on the coming elections. In September 2008, Social Democrats won the parliamentary election with 30.45%. The ruling Slovenian Democratic Party finished second with 29.26%. Social Democrats formed a new Slovenian government in coalition with
Zares,
DeSUS and LDS. They won 29 seats in the 90-member National Assembly, one of which was won by Andrej Magajna, the president of the Christian Socialists of Slovenia. In October 2010, Andrej Magajna left the
deputy group of Social Democrats due to differences of opinion with the rest of the group. He especially criticised the party leader Borut Pahor and the Minister of Economic Development
Mitja Gaspari, claiming that he had been threatened with "removal" for not having supported the new act on the
public broadcaster RTV Slovenija. After Magajna's break with the party, the SD parliamentary group was left with 28 MPs. SD won 10.5% of the vote at the early
2011 Slovenian parliamentary election on 4 December 2011, gaining 10 seats in the
National Assembly. SD were therefore in third place behind the SDS and new centre-left party
Positive Slovenia (PS). SDS leader
Janez Janša became Prime Minister for a second time on 10 February 2012 heading a centre-right coalition government.
Lukšič era In June 2012, Pahor unsuccessfully ran for re-election as president of the Social Democrats. He was defeated by
Igor Lukšič by a narrow margin. However, on 20 March 2013 Janša's coalition was replaced by a
new government headed by PS interim leader
Alenka Bratušek, a comprising PS, the Social Democrats,
Civic List and DeSUS. Bratušek resigned as Prime Minister on 3 May 2014 seeking an early general election. After the party won only one MEP seat and 8.0% of the vote in
2014 European Parliament election, Lukšič resigned as SD party president on 26 May. The party received 5.95% of the vote in the
Slovenian parliamentary election on 13 July 2014, and won 6 seats in parliament. On 18 September 2014, the Social Democrats joined the
cabinet of Miro Cerar, also comprising Prime Minister Cerar's
Modern Centre Party (SMC) and DeSUS.
Židan leadership SD scored badly at the
2014 European election, only obtaining 8,08% of votes and one seat. Following the result, Lukšič resigned and
Dejan Židan was elected as new leader of the party. The party improved its result in the
2018 parliamentary election, scoring 9,9% of votes and winning ten seats in the
National Assembly. The Social Democrats later joined
Marjan Šarec's government and held the posts of Minister of Justice and Minister of Culture until the dissolution of government in January 2020 by Marjan Šarec. ==Youth Forum==