Party of Civic Understanding Strana občianskeho porozumenia | |
---|---|
Leader | Pavol Hamžík (last) |
Founder | Rudolf Schuster |
Founded | 1998 |
Dissolved | 1 March 2003[1] |
Merged into | Direction (Third Way) |
Ideology | Social democracy[2] Social liberalism[2][3] Third Way[4] Populism[4] Pro-Europeanism[2] |
Political position | Centre-left[2][5] |
The Party of Civic Understanding (Slovak: Strana občianskeho porozumenia, SOP) was a centre-left political party in Slovakia between 1998 and 2003. Between 1998 and 2002 the party was part of the coalition government led by Mikuláš Dzurinda, with the founder of the party, Rudolf Schuster, being elected President of Slovakia in 1999.
In government the party lost support and after the 2002 election had no seats in parliament. The party dissolved on the 1 March 2003 and recommended its members join Direction – Social Democracy (SMER).