Freedom and Solidarity

This article is about the political party in Slovakia. For the Polish party, see Free and Solidary. For the Turkish party, see Freedom and Solidarity Party.

Freedom and Solidarity
Sloboda a Solidarita
AbbreviationSaS
ChairBranislav Gröhling
Vice Chairs
See list
General ManagerRoman Foltin
Honorary ChairRichard Sulík
FounderRichard Sulík
Founded28 February 2009; 15 years ago (2009-02-28)
HeadquartersPriemyselná 8, 821 09 Bratislava
NewspaperSaS Daily
Youth wingMladí SaSkári
Membership (2022)Increase 250[1]
IdeologyLiberalism
Conservative liberalism
Libertarianism
Political positionCentre-right[A]
European affiliationEuropean Conservatives and Reformists Party
European Parliament groupEuropean Conservatives and Reformists
Colours
  •   Green
  •   Dark blue
  •   Neon green (2023–2024)
Slogan"Vote Strong Economy" (2023)[2]
National Council[a]
10 / 150
European Parliament
0 / 15
Regional governors[3]
1 / 8
Regional deputies[b][3]
81 / 419
Mayors[c][3]
47 / 2,904
Local councillors[d][3]
619 / 20,462
Website
www.sas.sk Edit this at Wikidata
^ A: The party has been described as centrist by some and as right-wing by others.

Freedom and Solidarity (Slovak: Sloboda a Solidarita, SaS),[4] also called Saska,[5] is a centre-right liberal and libertarian political party in Slovakia.[6][7][8] Established in 2009,[9] SaS was founded by economist Richard Sulík, who designed Slovakia's flat tax system.[10] It generally holds anti-state and neoliberal positions.[11] After the 2020 Slovak parliamentary election, the party lost several seats in the National Council but became part of the coalition government (the Matovič's Cabinet) with Ordinary People and Independent Personalities, For the People, and We Are Family.[12] It is led by businessman Branislav Gröhling.

SaS is a soft Eurosceptic party, and demands reforms of the European Union (EU) but declares that membership in the EU is key for the future of Slovakia. The party holds civil libertarian positions including support for drug liberalisation, same-sex marriage,[13] and LGBT rights,[14] and advocates economically liberal and fiscally conservative policies rooted in the ideas of the Austrian School.[15] The party launched a campaign called Referendum 2009 to hold a referendum on reforming and cutting the cost of politics. SaS makes heavy use of the Internet,[16] such during the 2010 Slovak parliamentary election through Facebook and Twitter,[17] with the party having 68,000 fans on Facebook by the election.[18]

SaS narrowly failed to cross the 5% threshold at the 2009 European Parliament election in Slovakia but came third, winning 22 seats, at the 2010 Slovak parliamentary election.[19] It became part of the four-party centre-right coalition government, holding four cabinet positions, with Sulík elected the Speaker of the National Council. In the 2012 Slovak parliamentary election, the party suffered a major setback and lost half its 22 seats, and held four positions in the government of Slovakia before the election. In the 2019 European Parliament election in Slovakia, the party returned two Members of the European Parliament (MEPs). The party is member of the European Conservatives and Reformists Party (ECR party). Sulík left the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe group (ALDE group) in the European Parliament to sit with the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR group) on 2 October 2014.[20][21]

  1. ^ "Výročná správa politickej strany: Sloboda a Solidarita" (PDF). Minv.sk (in Slovak). Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic. 2022. p. 5. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  2. ^ "Predvolebné kampane strán". Pravda.sk (in Slovak). 7 September 2023. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d "Súhrnné výsledky hlasovania – Voľby do orgánov samosprávy obcí 2022". Volbysr.sk (in Slovak). 2022. Archived from the original on 31 October 2022. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Detail – Register politických strán a politických hnutí Slovenskej republiky". Ives.minv.sk. Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic. 2009. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  5. ^ "Marketér Prchal má nové angažmá. Přejmenovaná slovenská strana Saska s ním potvrdila spolupráci". iROZHLAS (in Czech). 3 April 2023. Retrieved 29 December 2023.
  6. ^ "Who is Who? On the EU-Critical Right of Centre" (PDF). Europe of Freedom and Direct Democracy. 2018. p. 43. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 March 2019. Freedom and Solidarity (Slovak: Sloboda a Solidarita, SaS): Limited government, EU-sceptic, Euro-critical, classical-Liberal/Libertarian
  7. ^ Nordsieck, Wolfram (February 2020). "Slovakia". Parties and Elections in Europe. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  8. ^ Verseck, Keno (1 March 2021). "COVID-19: Slovakia mired in chaos". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  9. ^ "Political parties and elections in Slovakia". Online Slovakia. Retrieved 24 September 2021. Sloboda a Solidarita (Freedom and Solidarity, Ideology : centre-right classical liberal political party, founded in 2009).
  10. ^ "Fresh air". The Economist. 17 June 2010. Retrieved 24 March 2024.
  11. ^ Engler, Sarah (August 2020). "Centrist anti-establishment parties and their protest voters: more than a superficial romance?". European Political Science Review. 12 (3): 307–325. doi:10.1017/S1755773920000132. ISSN 1755-7739.
  12. ^ "Slovak election winner secures four-party coalition with cabinet deal". Reuters. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 26 October 2021.
  13. ^ Balogová, Beata (20 May 2010). "Vote 2010: Smer gets another 'no'". The Slovak Spectator.
  14. ^ O'Dwyer, Conor (2018). Coming Out of Communism: The Emergence of LGBT Activism in Eastern Europe. NYU Press. p. 199. ISBN 9781479851485.
  15. ^ Christodoulakis, Nicos (2012). How Crises Shaped Economic Ideas and Policies: Wiser After the Events?. Springer. p. 163. ISBN 978-3319168715.
  16. ^ "An unfinished revolution". The Economist. 19 May 2010.
  17. ^ "Another direction". The Economist. 20 May 2010.
  18. ^ Tomek, Radoslav (11 June 2010). "Slovak Facebook Users May End Fico Reign in Vote". Bloomberg.
  19. ^ Lansford, Tom, ed. (2015). Political Handbook of the World 2015. Sage Publications. p. 5530. ISBN 978-1483371559.
  20. ^ Richard, Richard (2 October 2014). "Odchádzam v europarlamente od liberálov, idem k reformistom" [I am leaving the liberals in the European Parliament, I am going to the reformists]. Sulik.sk (in Slovak). European Union. Retrieved 6 May 2020.
  21. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).


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