Since the collapse of the Yugoslav Socialist Federation and Slovenia’s declaration of independence in 1991, the political field in Slovenia has been dominated by liberal and conservative forces. Until 1992, The Democratic Opposition of Slovenia (Demokratična opozicija Slovenije-DEMOS ), a wide coalition of right wing, left-liberal and social-democratic parties united under the banner of patriotism, was in power. During its short rule, the first steps towards the fundamental reconstruction of the Slovenian economy were made. The reconstruction was launched with a drive to privatize state owned property, a process introduced in a disorganized manner, and often via illicit means. This coincided with a severe economic depression, combined with high inflation and rising unemployment that accompanied the collapse of the Yugoslav markets. In 1992, mass workers’ strikes helped to stop the so called «wild privatization» period and contributed to the fall of the DEMOS government. After 1992, a coalition of moderate left parties, along with the party Liberal Democracy of Slovenia (Liberalna demokracija Slovenije-LDS ), with Janez Drnovšek at the fore, took power. With the exception of the brief reign of a right-wing conservative government in the year 2000, headed by the Christian-democrat leader Andrej Bajuk, the LDS managed to preserve their dominant role in Slovenian parliamentary politics, and were the most influential force in all government coalitions until 2004.
