Jože Pučnik
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Jože Pučnik (9 March 1932 – 11 January 2003) was a Slovenian public intellectual, sociologist and politician. During the communist regime of Josip Broz Tito, he was one of the most outspoken Slovenian critics of dictatorship and lack of civil liberties in SFR Yugoslavia.
Quick Facts Leader of the Social Democratic Party, Preceded by ...
Jože Pučnik | |
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Leader of the Social Democratic Party | |
In office 1989 – May 1993 | |
Preceded by | France Tomšič |
Succeeded by | Janez Janša |
Personal details | |
Born | (1932-03-09)9 March 1932 Črešnjevec, Yugoslavia |
Died | 11 January 2003(2003-01-11) (aged 70) Germany |
Political party | Social Democratic Party |
Other political affiliations | DEMOS |
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Pučnik was imprisoned for a total of seven years, and later forced into exile. After returning to Slovenia in the late 1980s, he became the leader of the Democratic Opposition of Slovenia, a platform of democratic parties that defeated the communists in the first free elections in 1990 and introduced a democratic system and market economy to Slovenia. Pučnik is also considered one of the fathers of Slovenian independence from Yugoslavia.[1][2][3]