Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party

Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party Slovenská demokratická a kresťanská únia – Demokratická strana
Leader	Pavol Frešo
Founded	2000
Split from	Slovak Democratic Coalition
Headquarters	28 Ružinovská Bratislava
Ideology	Liberal conservatism Christian democracy
Political position	Centre-right
International affiliation	Centrist Democrat International
European affiliation	European People's Party
European Parliament group	European People's Party
Official colours	Blue and white
National Council	11 / 150
European Parliament	2 / 13
Website
www.sdku-ds.sk
Politics of Slovakia Political parties Elections

The Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party (Slovak: Slovenská demokratická a kresťanská únia – Demokratická strana, SDKÚ-DS) is a liberal conservative political party in Slovakia.

Management of the party

• Mikuláš Dzurinda – chairman
• Lucia Žitňanská – vice-chairman
• Ivan Mikloš – vice-chairman
• Milan Hort – vice-chairman
• Iveta Radičová – vice-chairman
• Štefan Hudec – general secretary

Ideology

SDKU-DS is a centre-right party, presenting it self as antagonist movement against left wing parties, after the general elections, is talking with their centre right partners to form a new government. The party has been criticising the policies of Robert Fico's government, calling it irresponsible, unsustainable and populist. It is the second largest party in the National Council after its main rival, left wing Smer-SD. Their policy includes continuing in reforms that took place before 2006 – tax reform, welfare benefits cuts, pensions reform, healthcare reform etc. SDKÚ-DS is currently organised into four sections:

• Team for recovery and modernisation, led by Ivan Mikloš,
• Team for a dignified life, led by Iveta Radičová,
• Anti-crisis team, led by newcomer Eugen Jurzyca,
• Team for law and justice, led by Lucia Žitňanská.

Main partners of SDKÚ-DS are politically similar parties: Christian Democratic Movement, Freedom and Solidarity, Most-Híd. These parties are currently in a coalition government with SDKU-DS.

History

Before its merger with the Democratic Party on 21 January 2006, it was called the Slovak Democratic and Christian Union (SDKÚ). It used to provide Slovakia's head of government, Mikuláš Dzurinda, and led a coalition government with the Party of the Hungarian Coalition in the years 2002–2006 (the Alliance of the New Citizen was a member of that coalition until September 2005 and the Christian Democratic Movement until February 2006).

In the parliamentary election of 17 June 2006, the party won 18.4% of the popular vote and 31 out of 150 seats in the National Council.

The party's leader for the 2010 parliamentary election was Iveta Radičová. In this election, the party won 15.42% of popular vote corresponding to 28 seats in the National Council. Iveta Radičová become the first female prime minister in Slovakia, by forming a new centre-right government consisting of SDKÚ-DS, SaS, MOST-HÍD and KDH. By custom, president Ivan Gašparovič first gave charge to form a new government to winnig party SMER-SD and its leader Robert Fico, who was unable to do so. Radičová's government collapsed on 11 Octover 2011 after lost confidence in parliament. She did not take candidacy in next election and was prime minister until Fico government took office on 4 April 2012. After falling to 6,09% Mikuláš Dzurinda decided not candidate to chairman on congres which took place on 19 May 2012. Pavol Frešo, Lucia Žitňaňská and Viliam Novotný was candidates, finally Frešo won with 242 out of

SDKÚ-DS is a member of the European People's Party (EPP).

External links

• Official website (English section)