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Zares

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Really — Social Liberals
Zares — socialno-liberalni
LeaderDarja Radić(pro tempore)
Founded2007
Dissolved2015[1]
Split fromLiberal Democracy of Slovenia
HeadquartersLjubljana
IdeologySocial liberalism
Pro-Europeanism
Political positionCentretocentre-left
European affiliationAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
International affiliationLiberal International(observer)
ColoursOrange
National Assembly
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European Parliament
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Website
http:// zares.si

Zares – Social Liberals(Slovene:Zares – socialno-liberalni) was asocial-liberal[2][3]political party in Slovenia.

Its first president wasGregor Golobič,former Secretary General of theLiberal Democracy of Sloveniaand former close advisor to the lateJanez Drnovšek,who had previously abandoned active political involvement due to disagreements with his party. Until October 2011, the party was called Zares - New Politics (Zares - nova politika), when the party adopted its current title.[4][5]

The party supported asocial progressiveand economicallysocial-liberalagenda, strongly supported theEuropean Unionand was a staunch opponent of the former SlovenianPrime MinisterJanez Janša.Since 17 November 2007,Zareshas been an observer member of theLiberal International,[6]and was also a member of theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe(ALDE).[7]

History

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Zareswas founded in 2007 as the result of a split within the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia, when 6 MPs of theNational Assembly,led by former Minister of EconomyMatej Lahovnik,left their original party and founded a new parliamentary group. In the2007 presidential election,the party supported Independent presidential candidateDanilo Türk,who was electedPresident of Slovenia.

The party's firstelection,Zares gathered 9.4% of the vote, gaining 9 parliamentary seats and became the third strongest party in Slovenia. Before the election the party allied itself with theSocial Democratsand the Liberal Democracy of Slovenia in an unofficial coalition. From November 2008 till October 2011, Zares was part of the centre-left government led by Social Democrats party presidentBorut Pahor.At the2011 Slovenian parliamentary electionon 4 December 2011,Zareswon 0.65% of the vote, thus not reaching the parliamentary threshold of 4%.[8]

On 15 February 2012,Pavel Gantarreceived a 78% support at the party congress and became the new president.[9]After party received only 0.91% of votes in the2014 European Parliament election,and thus losing the party's European parliament representation, Gantar resigned as party president.[10]He was replaced byDarja Radićas apro temporepresident.[11]

Prominent members

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Leaders
Other prominent members
Other prominent former members

Ultra Scandal

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In June 2009, Golobič was involved in a so-calledUltra Scandalnamed after the SlovenianITcompany Ultra, where Golobič was employed between 2003 and 2007. He was accused of misleading the media about his investment into that company during the campaign for the 2008 parliamentary election. According to allegations, the company had some 21 million euro of unsecured loans at the state-ownedNova Ljubljanska Banka(NLB). When the media examined the loans, it came out that Golobič owns 10% of Ultra SUM, aNetherlands-based company which owns 70% of Ultra company. This was a fact that he had withheld from the public during the 2008 general election campaign. Golobič publicly apologized for having misled the public, but refused to resign as the minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology.[15] The Ultra Scandal was also one of the reasons for the decision ofMatej Lahovnik,one of the co-founders of the partyZares,to leave the party in July 2010. Lahovnik, at the time Minister of Economy, mentioned Golobič's alleged misuse of political influence in order to favor his business partners as one of the reasons for his break with the party.[16]As a response, Golobič demanded that Lahovnik step down from his position of Minister of Economy and qualified his behavior as "Brutus-like ", that is, treacherous.[17]

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References

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  1. ^"Zares sklenil svoj krog « Zares".
  2. ^Vít Hloušek; Lubomír Kopeček (1 June 2010).Origin, Ideology and Transformation of Political Parties: East-Central and Western Europe Compared.Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. pp. 120–.ISBN978-0-7546-7840-3.Retrieved2 February2013.
  3. ^Dimitri Almeida (27 April 2012).The Impact of European Integration on Political Parties: Beyond the Permissive Consensus.Taylor & Francis. pp. 102–.ISBN978-1-136-34039-0.
  4. ^""Nova politika" se je preimenovala v Zares - socialno-liberalni. Golobiču zaupnica ".
  5. ^"Zares: Novo ime, stari predsednik".15 October 2011.
  6. ^"Observer Members - Members - Liberalism".Archived fromthe originalon October 6, 2009.RetrievedJuly 27,2009.
  7. ^"ALDE Party members | ALDE Party".Archived fromthe originalon 2012-11-30.Retrieved2012-11-30.
  8. ^"Republic of Slovenia Early Elections for Deputies to the National Assembly 2011: Election results".National Electoral Commission. Archived fromthe originalon January 9, 2012.Retrieved16 December2011.
  9. ^abcRTVSLO.si - Na čelu Zaresa po novem Pavel Gantar
  10. ^RTVSLO.si - Volitve s čela Zares odnesle tudi Pavla Gantarja
  11. ^Dnevnik.si Zares začasno vodi Darja Radić
  12. ^"STA: Economy Minister Lahovnik in Zares Exit (adds)".sta.si.Archived fromthe originalon 2012-03-10.
  13. ^Slovenskenovice.si - Vse stranke premierke Bratušek in ministra Jakiča
  14. ^Siol.net - V živo: Ivan Vogrin za mandatarja predlaga Dušana Radonjiča
  15. ^Slovenia Times articleArchivedJune 14, 2011, at theWayback Machine- July edition, page 6 -retrieved 2009-07-14
  16. ^"Lahovnik in Pahor odgovore prelagata na četrtek:: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija".Rtvslovenija.si.Retrieved2011-10-23.
  17. ^"Golobič zanika konflikt interesov: Lahovnik ravnal brutalno in brutovsko:: Prvi interaktivni multimedijski portal, MMC RTV Slovenija".Rtvslovenija.si. 2010-04-14.Retrieved2011-10-23.
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