Drnovšek, Janez (1950- )

Slovene politician, prime minister 1992-2002, except for June-November 2000, and president from 2002. A trained economist, he was elected to the Slovenian parliament in 1986 and became a member of Yugoslavia's ‘rotating presidency’ in 1989-90. A founding member of the centre-left Slovene Liberal Democrats (LDS) in 1990, he helped secure multiparty democracy and independence for Slovenia in 1991. As prime minister, he built a competitive market economy and commenced membership talks with the European Union.

He was briefly removed from office in 2000 when general elections gave a majority to right-wing parties. However, the coalition quickly broke down and fresh elections returned the centre-left coalition parties to power.

Born in Celje and educated at the Faculty of Economic Sciences, University of Maribor, his early career was as a director of a construction company and chief executiveof a bank. In 1991 he acted as Slovenia's main negotiator in the independence talks with the Yugoslav army.