Direction - Social Democracy
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Direction–Social Democracy
Smer–sociálna demokracia |
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| Abbreviation | Smer-SD |
| Leader | Robert Fico |
| Founded | 8 November 1999 |
| Split from | Party of the Democratic Left |
| Headquarters | Bratislava, Slovak Republic |
| Newspaper | SMER Newspapers |
| Youth wing | Young Social Democrats |
| Membership (2015) | 16,167 |
| Ideology |
Social democracy Left-wing nationalism Left-wing populism |
| Political position | Centre-left |
| European affiliation | Party of European Socialists |
| International affiliation | Socialist International |
| European Parliament group | Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats |
| Colours | Red |
| National Council |
49 / 150
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| European Parliament |
4 / 13
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| Self-governing regions |
6 / 8
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| Regional parliaments |
161 / 408
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| Website | |
| www |
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Direction – Social Democracy (Slovak: Smer–sociálna demokracia, Smer-SD) is a social-democraticpolitical party in Slovakia. It is led by Robert Fico, the current Prime Minister of Slovakia. Smer-SD is the largest party in the National Council, with a plurality of 49 seats (out of 150) following the Parliamentary Election held on 5 March 2016.
Originally named Direction, the party emerged as a breakaway from the Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ) on 8 November 1999. Under Fico, at the time one of the most popular politicians in the country, it quickly surpassed the SDĽ. In 2003 it changed its formal name to Direction (Third Way) (Slovak: Smer (tretia cesta)). In 2005, it absorbed SDĽ and several other centre-left parties and adopted its current name. Following the party's victory in 2006, Smer entered into a coalition with the nationalist Slovak National Party (SNS). For this, it was suspended from membership of the Party of European Socialists (PES). The PES Chairman, Poul Nyrup Rasmussen, explained in The Slovak Spectator that "Most of our members stood solidly behind our values, according to which forming a coalition with the extreme right is unacceptable."Smer was readmitted into the PES in 2008. It later formed another coalition with the SNS in 2016.
The party arose as a breakaway from the Party of the Democratic Left (SDĽ) in 1999 (Robert Fico being the most popular SDĽ member at that time) and quickly became one of the most popular parties in Slovakia, while the SDĽ, which was the successor of the original Communist Party of Slovakia and was the governing party from 1998 to 2002, was steadily decreasing in popularity.
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