Alliance of the Democratic Left (Polish: Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej, SLD) is one of the main Polish social democratic political parties, established on April 15, 1999.
Most of its members had previously been members of SdRP (Socjaldemokracja Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej - Socialdemocracy of the Republic of Poland). SdRP and some other socialist and social democratic parties formed a left-wing coalition called Sojusz Lewicy Demokratycznej (1991-1999). In 1999 the coalition became a party, but lost some members. That coalition was established mostly by former members of communist PZPR (Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza - Polish United Workers Party), which ruled the People's Republic of Poland with Soviet support before 1989. Today SLD is a pro-European (pro-EU) social democratic party. A coalition between SLD and PSL ruled Poland in the years 1993-1997.
In the 2001 elections SLD formed a coalition with Unia Pracy (UP, Labor Union) and gained 200 (of 460) seats in the Sejm (the lower house) and 75 (of 100) in the Senate. After the elections, the coalition was joined by Polskie Stronnictwo Ludowe (the Polish Peasants' Party) in forming a government. In March 2003 PSL left the coalition. By 2004 the support for SLD in the polls has dropped from about 30% to just below 10%, and several high ranking party members are accused of taking part in high profile political scandals by mainstream press (most notably the Rywin affair).
On March 6, 2004 Leszek Miller resigned as party leader and was replaced by Krzysztof Janik. On March 26 the Diet speaker Marek Borowski, together with other high-ranking SLD officials, announced the creation of a new left-wing party, the Polish Social-Democracy (Socjaldemokracja Polska). On the next day, Leszek Miller announced he would step down as prime minister on May 2, i.e. the day after Poland joins the European Union, which he did.
Today SLD still rules Poland with 161 seats in the Sejm and the newly appointed Prime Minister Marek Belka; however, it is uncertain whether it will be able to secure the majority necessary to pass a confidence vote and the opposition is pressing for earlier elections. Recent opinion polls suggest SLD might not cross the 5% threshold needed to enter the Sejm if elections were to be hold today. The party's traditional electorate is divided between SDL, SDPL and the more radical leftist Samoobrona.
