FREE LIVRE | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Abbreviation | L |
| Spokesperson | Rui Tavares |
| Founded | 31 January 2014 (2014-01-31) |
| Legalised | 20 March 2014 (2014-03-20) |
| Headquarters | Rua Marcos Portugal, n.º 22-A1200–258 LisboaLisbon |
| Membership(2024) | 1900[1] |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-left[6][7] toleft-wing[5][10] |
| European affiliation |
|
| European Parliament group | Greens/EFA[13] |
| Colours |
|
| Assembly of the Republic | 6 / 230 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 21 |
| Regional parliaments | 0 / 104 |
| Local government (Mayors) | 0 / 308 |
| Local government (Parishes) | 0 / 3,216 |
| Election symbol | |
.png) | |
| Party flag | |
 | |
| Website | |
| partidolivre.pt | |
LIVRE[14] (L;lit. 'FREE'), temporarily known asLIVRE/Tempo de Avançar[15] (lit. 'FREE/Time to Move Forward',L/TDA), is agreenleft-wingPortuguese political party, founded in 2014. Its founding principles areecology,universalism,freedom,equality,solidarity,socialism, andpro-Europeanism.[16]
In 2011,Left Bloc's Independent MEPRui Tavares departed the party's group due to disagreements with coordinatorFrancisco Louçã and began sitting as an independent in European Parliament.[17] Tavares also left the Left Bloc'sEuropean Parliament group,GUE-NGL, and began sitting withGreens–European Free Alliance.
In 2014, ahead ofthat year's European elections, LIVRE was formed, with Tavares being its most notable founder. Its founding congress was 31 January.[18] The party was legalised by thePortuguese Constitutional Court on 20 March 2014.[19] On 20 May 2015, it officially changed its name LIVRE to LIVRE/Tempo de Avançar, with L/TDA as its abbreviation.[20] This change was made in order to run for the 2015 legislative election in a broad coalition with the citizen platform Tempo de Avançar, as only political parties can run in legislative elections.[21] It switched back to its original name a few years later. Its symbol is apoppy.
In the2019 legislative election the party entered parliament for the first time, withJoacine Katar Moreira as their sole MP.[22] After several clashes between Katar Moreira and the party's leadership, including accusations that LIVRE only used her to achieve the state mandated subvention due to her being a black woman, and Katar Moreira's claim that the election was "won" only by her[23][24] the party expelled her from their caucus on 31 January 2020, losing all representation in theAssembly of the Republic.[25]
During the campaign for the2022 legislative election, Rui Tavares, once again the main candidate from LIVRE, was able to appear in the televised debates due to the party having elected one MP during the previous election.[26] Rui Tavares was elected as the party's sole MP, with LIVRE regaining representation in parliament.[27]
During the2024 legislative election, LIVRE increased their result to 3.2% and elected 4 MPs:Rui Tavares,Isabel Mendes Lopes (who became the first Parliamentary leader of LIVRE),Jorge Pinto andPaulo Muacho.[28]
In the same year, LIVRE selected Francisco Paupério as the main candidate for the2024 European Parliament election after his victory in the party primaries, a result that caused some internal turmoil in the party after allegations ofelectoral fraud.[29] Rui Tavares was later criticized for not being as present as other party leaders in the party's campaign for the European elections.[15] In the end, LIVRE achieved 3.8% of the votes, their best result so far, but failed to elect any MEPs.[18]
The party's political responsibilities are divided between two main organs, both elected for two-year terms in the party congress: the Contact Group, composed of 15 people elected through lists and which are responsible for the Executive functioning of the party; the Assembly, composed of 50 people (with gender parity) elected through individual candidacies, responsible for determining the political positioning of the party. Unlike most parties in the Portuguese landscape, LIVRE does not have a determined leadership role, having rotating roles such a male-female Spokespeople duo from the Contact Group and a Coordinator of the Board of the Assembly. Given that both organs have term-limits and no person can be in one organ more than three consecutive terms, they are considered as rotative roles.[30]
| Mandate | Co-Spokesperson for the Contact Group | Co-Spokesperson for the Contact Group | Coordinator of the Board of the Assembly |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024– | Rui Tavares | Isabel Mendes Lopes | Patricia Gonçalves |
| 2022–2024 | Teresa Mota | ||
| 2020–2022 | Pedro Mendonça | Isabel Mendes Lopes | Luciana Rio Branco Patrícia Robalo José Manuel Azevedo |
| 2018–2020 | Ana Natário | ||
| 2016–2018 | Rui Tavares | ||
| 2014–2016 | Marta Loja Neves | ||
One of the main points of the party's manifesto going into the2022 Portuguese legislative election was support for auniversal basic income.[31] The party also highlighted its support for increasing the nationalminimum wage to€1,000 per month, extending support for: remote working, pregnant workers, workers with health problems, caregivers and supporting "micro-businesses". The party also supports a Green New Deal for Portugal, loweringVAT from 23% to 6% on vets and pet food, banningbullfighting and legalizingcannabis.[32][33]
Vote share in the Portuguese legislative elections
| Election | Main candidate | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | Rui Tavares | 39,330 | 0.7 (#9) | 0 / 230 | New | No seats | |
| 2019 | Joacine Katar Moreira | 56,940 | 1.1 (#9) | 1 / 230 0 / 230 |  1 1 | Opposition | Joacine Katar Moreira was expelled from the LIVRE caucus in January 2020. |
| No seats | |||||||
| 2022 | Rui Tavares | 71,232 | 1.3 (#9) | 1 / 230 | 1 | Opposition | |
| 2024 | 204,875 | 3.2 (#7) | 4 / 230 | 3 | Opposition | ||
| 2025 | 257,291 | 4.1 (#5) | 6 / 230 | 2 | Opposition |
| Election | Candidate Supported | Votes | % | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Sampaio da Nóvoa | 1,062,138 | 22.9 (#2) | Lost N |
| 2021 | Ana Gomes | 540,823 | 13.0 (#2) | LostN |
| Election | List leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | Rui Tavares | 71,495 | 2.2 (#6) | 0 / 21 | – | |
| 2019 | 60,446 | 1.8 (#8) | 0 / 21 |  0 | ||
| 2024 | Francisco Paupério | 148,572 | 3.8 (#7) | 0 / 21 | 0 |
The following results include LIVRE led coalitions.
| Election | Votes | % | Mayors | +/- | Councillors | +/- | Assemblies | +/- | Parishes | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 17,417 | 0.06 | 0 / 308 | New | 0 / 2,074 | New | 1 / 6,461 | New | 2 / 27,019 | New |
| 2021 | 24,685 | 0.05 | 0 / 308 | 0 | 1 / 2,064 | 1 | 3 / 6,448 | 2 | 3 / 26,797 | 1 |
| 2025 | 58,440 | 1.07 | 0 / 308 | 0 | 1 / 2,058 | 0 | 26 / 6,463 | 23 | 41 / 27,973 | 38 |
| Region | Election | Main candidate | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Azores | 2016 | José Manuel Azevedo | 227 | 0.2 (#11) | 0 / 57 | New | No seats |
| 2020 | 362 | 0.4 (#11) | 0 / 57 | 0 | No seats | ||
| 2024 | 735 | 0.6 (#8) | 0 / 57 | 0 | No seats | ||
| Madeira | 2023 | Tiago Camacho | 858 | 0.6 (#10) | 0 / 47 | New | No seats |
| 2024 | Marta Sofia | 911 | 0.7 (#11) | 0 / 47 | 0 | No seats | |
| 2025 | 959 | 0.7 (#10) | 0 / 47 | 0 | No seats |
| Parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic (230) |
|
|---|---|
| Legislative Assembly of the Azores Autonomous Region (57) |
|
| Legislative Assembly of the Madeira Autonomous Region (47) |
|
| European Parliament (21) | |
| Non-parliamentary parties | |
