Slovenia - Political parties

The last parliamentary elections were held on 15 October 2000, with eight parties receiving sufficient votes to gain representation in the National Assembly: Liberal Democratic Party, 34 seats; Social Democratic Party of Slovenia, 14 seats; United List (former Communists and allies), 11 seats; Slovene People's Party and Slovenian Christian Democrats (SLS/SKD), 9 seats; New Slovenia Christian People's Party, 8 seats; Democratic Party of Retired People of Slovenia, 4 seats; Slovenian National Party, 4 seats; Party of Slovenian Youth, 4 seats; Italian Minority, 1 seat; and the Hungarian Minority, 1 seat.

Party candidates are elected by each district. A candidate is only elected when votes for each party reach a given threshold. A new electoral code was passed in 2000, raising the threshold for securing seats from 3.2% to 4% and ending the use of preferential party lists for allocating seats to candidates who did not win direct mandates.