Communist Party of Slovakia

In the past, the Communist Party of Slovakia (Slovak: Komunistick� strana Slovenska -- KSS) was a communist party in Slovakia. It was formed in March 1939, when the WWII Slovakia arose, from the KSC. Although formally independent, it was led by the KSC leaders, who were in Moscow during the war. When Czechoslovakia arose again, it was still a separate party for a while (1945-1948). On September 29 1948, it was reunited with the KSC and continued to exist as a "organizational territorial unit of the KSC on the territory of Slovakia". Its (thus also Communist Slovakia's) main newspaper was the Pravda. It ceased in 1990, when it was transformed into the independent Social Democratic party called the Party of Democratic Left. The hard-liners however found a "Communist Party of Slovakia" soon again (see below).

The KSS functioned solely as a regional affiliate of the KSC. The KSS did not operate as an independent political institution but rather as directed by the Prague party leadership.

The organizational structure and modus operandi of the KSS paralleled those of the (see) KSC: The KSS party congress met for several days every five years (just before the KSC party congress). The KSS party congress selected its central committee members and candidate members, who in turn selected a presidium, a secretariat, and a first secretary (i. e. party leader).

The most important first secretaries were Alexander Dubcek (1963 – 1968) and Jozef Lenart (1970 – 1988). Following the March 1986 party congress, the KSS Presidium consisted of 11 members; the Secretariat included, in addition to Lenart, 3 secretaries and 2 members; and the Central Committee comprised 95 full members and 36 candidate members. The KSS in 1986 also had its own Central Control and Auditing Commission, four other commissions, twelve party departments, and one training facility.

The modern Communist Party of Slovakia (Slovak: Komunistick� strana Slovenska -- KSS) is a communist party in Slovakia. It was formed in 1992. This Communist Party of Slovakia disagrees with the Party of Democratic Left (and other Left parties in Slovakia that virtually replaced the Party of Democratic Left in the meantime (as of 2003)) and officially sticks to the old Communist and Marxist ideology.

In the 2002 elections the KSS received 6% of the vote and got 11 seats in the Slovak parliament (for the first time since its formation).

External Links

KSS web site in English