Liberal Party of Chile Partido Liberal de Chile | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President | Patricio Morales |
| Founder | Vlado Mirosevic |
| Founded | 26 January 2013 |
| Headquarters | Santiago de Chile |
| Membership(2023) | 8,626[1] |
| Ideology | Social liberalism Progressivism Green liberalism |
| Political position | Centre tocentre-left |
| National affiliation | Unity for Chile Democratic Socialism New Social Pact (2021) Constituent Unity (2020 to 2021) Broad Front (2016 to 2020) |
| International affiliation | Liberal International |
| Colours | Orange (until 2022) Pink (from 2022) |
| Chamber of Deputies | 4 / 155 |
| Senate | 0 / 43 |
| Website | |
| www.losliberales.cl | |
TheLiberal Party of Chile (Spanish:Partido Liberal de Chile) is apolitical party in Chile, founded 26 January 2013 inSantiago,Chile. The main figure of the party is thedeputyVlado Mirosevic.
The Liberal Party of Chile states itself to be a social-liberal party, promotingegalitarian liberalism andprogressivism.
In Chile, the wordliberal is, after the dictatorship ofAugusto Pinochet, often synonymous withtechnocracy,classic liberalism andeconomic liberalism. The Liberal Party of Chile is based on social liberalism and thus opposes the neoliberalism that still influences many Chilean institutions. Following the tradition of the first liberals of the 19th century, the Liberal Party of Chile intends to combine its economic policy with a strong social policy.[citation needed]
The Liberal Party of Chile supportssame-sex marriage,[2] the legalisation ofmarijuana,[3] the legalisation ofabortion[4] and the legalisation ofeuthanasia.[5] Further, they supportdecentralization,[6] which also opposes the heritage of Pinochet who implementedcentralism in the country. Finally, the party supports changing theChilean constitution implemented by Pinochet in 1980.[7]
The Liberal Party of Chile is inspired by the tradition of Chilean liberals from before the rise of Pinochet and Chileanneoliberalism. They supported afederal state, hated tyranny and concentration of power and wanted the secular state to promote social rights such as public education. The Liberal Party of Chile is inspired by these ideas in, for example, their support for free education for all. Among the figures of the liberal party of the 20th century wereRamón Freire,José Miguel Infante,Francisco Bilbao,Pedro León Gallo Goyenechea,Domingo Santa María andJosé Manuel Balmaceda.
In Chile thehistoric Liberal Party ceased to exist in 1966 when it merged with theUnited Conservative Party, giving rise to theNational Party which supported thecoup d'état of 1973[8] However historical liberal ideas such as the defence of civil rights were not practised during the dictatorship. The system established in Chile during the dictatorship was not challenged much until the late 2000s and early 2010s.The Chilean student protests of 2011 showed for the first time in 35 years the discomfort of a group of people with the Chilean political system which was criticized for excessively favouring theprivatization of education.[9] Thedemonstrations criticized using the market as the main resource allocator and the private sector to manage many public services. The criticism also targeted theconstitution, since major legislative changes require super-majorities in the congress while the electoral system favours two political blocs, which impedes political processes.
The Liberal Party of Chile originated in theChileFirst (ChilePrimero) movement. ChileFirst was apolitical movement created in 2007 by former members of theParty for Democracy (Partido por la Democracia) led by SenatorFernando Flores Labra and supporting the candidature ofSebastián Piñera in thepresidential election of 2009 and 2010.
After a break with the original founders, on 26 January 2013 the party was officially formed as the Liberal Party of Chile (Partido Liberal de Chile), a name change from the existing ChilePrimero.[10] The majority of the founders were young, a part of the middle class and not previously members of other parties. They were inspired by the ideals of the Chilean liberalism from the 19th century[11] and especially by the values ofsecularism, democratic reforms and freedom of initiative.
On 15 June 2013 the party announced the formation of anelectoral alliance with theProgressive Party (Partido Progresista – PRO) and decided to supportMarco Enríquez-Ominami for president in the election of 2013.[12] The pact was called "If you want, Chile changes" (Si tu quieres, Chile cambia) and included the Liberal party of Chile with deputies, senators and regional councilors supporting it. In the parliamentary elections of 2013 the party's President Vlado Milosevic was elected as deputy of the 1. district, the Region ofArica andParinacota. In 2017 the party joined the left-wing coalitionFrente Amplio.
The following is a list of the presidential candidates supported by the Liberal Party. (Information gathered from theArchive of Chilean Elections).
Parliamentary election results for deputies in District 1 (Arica, Camarones, General Lagos and Putre)
| Election | Deputies | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % of the votes | Seats | |
| 2013 | 14,237 | 21,25 | Vlado Mirosevic |
| 2017 | 24,273 | 32,43 | Vlado Mirosevic |
Parliamentary election results for deputies in District 26 (Ancud, Calbuco, Castro, Chaitén, Chonchi, Cochamó, Curaco de Vélez, Dalcahue, Futaleufú, Hualaihué, Maullín, Palena, Puerto Montt, Puqueldón, Queilén, Quellón, Quemchi and Quinchao)
| Election | Deputies | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % of the votes | Seats | |
| 2017 | 6,200 | 3,87 | Alejandro Bernales |
| Name | Region | District | Period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vlado Mirosevic | Region ofArica and Parinacota | 1 | 2014–2018 / 2018-2022 |
| Alejandro Bernales | Region ofLos Lagos | 26 | 2018-2022 |
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link)| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Other | |
