People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia

Not to be confused with People's Party Our Slovakia.

People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia Ľudová strana – Hnutie za demokratické Slovensko
File:HZDS Logo.svg
Leader	Vladimír Mečiar (1991–2013)
Founder	Vladimír Mečiar
Founded	27 April 1991
Dissolved	11 January 2014
Split from	Public Against Violence
Succeeded by	Party of Democratic Slovakia
Headquarters	Tomášikova 32/A, Bratislava
Youth wing	Democratic Youth Forum
Membership (2012)	4,175
Ideology	Populism Slovak nationalism Conservatism Euroscepticism
Political position	Syncretic
European affiliation	European Democratic Party (2009–2014)
European Parliament group	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (2009–2014)
International affiliation	Alliance of Democrats
Colours	Blue
Anthem	"Vivat Slovakia"
Website
hzds.sk
Politics of Slovakia Political parties Elections

File:Bratislava HZDS Headquarters.jpg

Former headquarters of the ĽS-HZDS political party at Tomášikova Street 32/A in Bratislava

The Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (Slovak: Hnutie za demokratické Slovensko, HZDS), later known as the People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia (Slovak: Ľudová strana – Hnutie za demokratické Slovensko, ĽS–HZDS), was a populist political party in Slovakia. The party is commonly considered as having been authoritarian and illiberal.

During 1992–1998, HDZS was the leading party of the government, led by Prime Minister Vladimír Mečiar. The party rule was characterized by a fundamental violation of civil liberties, rule of law and a halt to post-communist economic reforms, and European integration.

After the 1998 parliamentary election, the party remained in opposition for two terms still as the strongest party. In opposition, HZDS moved its positions from Euroscepticism to pro-Europeanism and joined European Democratic Party, although it did not profess EDP's liberal ideology. In the 2006 parliamentary election, the party dropped to 5th place and became a junior partner in the Fico's First Cabinet.

In the 2010 parliamentary election the party did not exceed the electoral threshold narrowly for the first time, and this was repeated in 2012, when it won less than 1%.^[1][2] In 2014, HZDS officially dissolved and designated the Party of Democratic Slovakia as the successor.^[3]

History

Velvet Revolution

The party was created as a Slovak nationalist faction of Public Against Violence (VPN), from which it seceded at an extraordinary VPN congress on 27 April 1991. Called 'Movement for a Democratic Slovakia' (HZDS), it was led by Vladimír Mečiar, who had been deposed as Slovak Prime Minister a month earlier, and composed mostly of the VPN's cabinet members. The HZDS claimed to represent Slovak national interest, and demanded a more decentralised Czechoslovak confederation. On 7 May 1992, the HZDS voted for a declaration of independence, but this was defeated 73-57.

At the first election in which it took part, on 5–6 June, the HZDS won an overwhelming victory, with 74 seats on the National Council: two short of an absolute majority. Mečiar was appointed prime minister on 24 June. Whereas the HZDS wanted a confederation, the Czech elections on the same day were won by Civic Democratic Party, which preferred a tighter federation. Recognising that these positions were irreconcilable, the National Council voted for Slovakia's Declaration of Independence by 113 votes to 24, and Mečiar concluded formal negotiations over the dissolution of Czechoslovakia.

Dominant party

The party adopted an economically populist position, and sought to slow the post-Soviet privatisation and liberalisation.

In the first elections after independence, in late 1994, the HZDS retained its dominant position, winning 58 seats (the Peasant's Party of Slovakia won a further 3 on its list).

Decline in opposition

Originally designating itself as a centre-left party, the party moved towards the mainstream right and, in March 2000, renamed itself the 'People's Party – Movement for a Democratic Slovakia' (ĽS-HZDS) to try to achieve membership of the European People's Party (EPP). However, lingering memories of former anti-Europeanism, conflicting rhetoric, and the presence of three Slovak parties already in the EPP prevented this. The ĽS-HZDS then looked to the Euro-integrationist European Democratic Party, which it joined in 2009.

The build-up to the 2002 election saw Mečiar exclude a number of prominent members from the party's list of candidates. Several of the excluded members, led by Ivan Gašparovič, split from the party and founded the similarly titled Movement for Democracy (HZD). The new party won 3.3% of the vote, eating significantly into the ĽS-HZDS's position, and contributing to it winning only 36 seats. By 2006, further divisions and splits had reduced it to only 21 MPs.

Back in government

In the parliamentary election of 17 June 2006, the party won 8.8% of the popular vote and 15 out of 150 seats.

Two ĽS-HZDS ministers were sworn in with the Robert Fico government on July 4, 2006:

• Štefan Harabin (deputy prime minister; minister of justice);
• Miroslav Jureňa (minister of agriculture).

In the 2010 election the party lost all its seats, after its share of the vote halved to below the 5% threshold for entering parliament.

Election results

National Council

Election	Leader	Votes	%	Rank	Seats	+/–	Status
1992	Vladimír Mečiar	1,148,625	37.3%	1st	74 / 150		HZDS–SNS (1992–1994)
							Opposition (1994)
1994		1,005,488	34.9%	1st	58 / 150	Decrease 16	HZDS–RSS–SNS–ZRS
		In coalition with the Peasants' Party of Slovakia, which won 61 seats in total.
1998		907,103	27.0%	1st	43 / 150	Decrease 15	Opposition
2002		560,691	19.5%	1st	36 / 150	Decrease 7	Opposition
2006		202,540	8.8%	5th	15 / 150	Decrease 21	Smer–SNS–ĽS–HZDS
2010		109,480	4.3%	8th	0 / 150	Decrease 15	Extra-parliamentary
2012		23,772	0.9%	13th	0 / 150	Steady 0	Extra-parliamentary

European Parliament

Year	Vote	Vote %	Seats	Place
2004	119,582	17.04	3 / 14	2nd
2009	74,241 Decrease	8.97 Decrease	1 / 13	5th Decrease

Presidential

Election year	Candidate	1st round		2nd round
		# of overall votes	% of overall vote	# of overall votes	% of overall vote
1999	Vladimír Mečiar	1,097,956	37.24% (#2)	1,293,642	42.82% (#2)
2004	Vladimír Mečiar	650,242	32.74% (#1)	722,368	40.09% (#2)
2009	Milan Melník	45,985	2.45% (#5)	Supported Ivan Gašparovič

See also

• Slovak politics
• Privatization in Slovakia

External links

• Official website