The General secretary was the leader of the League of Communists of Slovenia (ZKS), the ruling party of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia (SRS) in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Party rules stipulated that the ZKS Central Committee elected the president. Moreover, the Central Committee was empowered to remove the president. The president served ex officio as a member of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia (LCY) and of the SRS Presidency. To be eligible to serve, the president had to be a member of the Presidency of the ZKS Central Committee. The 8th ZKS Congress instituted a two-year term limits for officeholders.
The office traces its lineage back to the office of "Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia in Slovenia", established after the founding of the LCY in 1919. This body had no distinct rights and was under the jurisdiction of the Yugoslav Central Committee. On 17 April 1937, the LCY convened the founding congress of the Communist Party of Slovenia. On 18 April, the Central Committee of the 1st Congress elected Franc Leskošek as "Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Slovenia". The LCY 6th Congress on 2–7 November 1952, renamed the party League of Communists, and the Slovene republican branch followed suit and changed its name to League of Communists of Slovenia. On 4 October 1966, the 5th Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the LCY 8th Congress abolished the office of General Secretary at the national level and replaced with the office of President. The ZKS Central Committee convened a meeting on 17 October 1966 that abolished the office of secretary and established the "President of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Slovenia". The reforms passed by the LCY Central Committee plenum strengthened the powers of the republican branches and gave more powers to the Slovene party leader. The 9th ZKS Congress introduced another set of reforms on 30 July 1982, which abolished the existing office and replaced it with the "President of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of Slovenia". This office was retained until 27 October 1990, after the party dropped "League of Communists of Slovenia" from its name on 17 July 1990 and became known solely as the "Party of Democratic Reform."
Office history Title Established Abolished Established by Secretary of the Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia for Slovenia 23 April 1919 18 April 1937 1st Congress of the Socialist Labour Party of Yugoslavia (Communists) Secretary of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of SloveniaSekretar Centralnega komiteja Zveze komunistov Slovenije 18 April 1937 17 October 1966 1st Congress of the Communist Party of Slovenia President of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of SloveniaPredsednik Centralnega komiteja Zveze komunistov Slovenije 17 October 1966 30 July 1982 ? Plenary Session of the Central Committee of the 5th Congress President of the Presidency of the Central Committee of the League of Communists of SloveniaPredsednik predsedstva Centralnega komiteja Zveze komunistov Slovenije 30 July 1982 27 October 1990 9th Congress of the League of Communists of Slovenia
Officeholders +Presidents of the League of Communists of Slovenia Portrait Name Took office Left office Term of office 1 18 April 1937 December 1945 1st(1937–1948) 1897 1926 1983 2 December 1945 June 1946 1st(1937–1948) 1912 1928 1953 3 June 1946 17 October 1966 1st–5th(1937–1968) 1900 1923 1983 4 17 October 1966 11 December 1968 5th(1965–1968) 1914 1942 1996 5 11 December 1968 30 July 1982 5th–8th(1968–1982) 1921 1940 2013 6 30 July 1982 19 April 1986 9th(1982–1986) 1930 1947 2025 7 19 April 1986 23 December 1989 10th(1986–1989) 1941 1958 Alive 8 23 December 1989 27 October 1990 11th(1989–1990) 1947 ? Alive
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