Libertair, Direct, Democratisch
Leader	Jean-Marie Dedecker
Founded	2007
Split from	Open VLD
Headquarters	National Secretariat Bellevue 5 9050 Gent
Ideology	Libertarianism[1][2] National liberalism[3] Conservative liberalism[1] Right-wing populism[4][5] Euroscepticism[1][6]
Political position	Right-wing
European affiliation	Alliance of European Conservatives and Reformists (2010–2014)
European Parliament group	European Conservatives and Reformists Group (2011–2014)
Colours	Blue and orange
Former names	Cassandra Lijst Dedecker
Chamber of Representatives (Flemish seats)	0 / 87
Senate (Flemish seats)	0 / 35
Flemish Parliament	0 / 124
Brussels Parliament (Flemish seats)	0 / 17
European Parliament (Flemish seats)	0 / 12
Website
www.ldd.be
Politics of Belgium Political parties Elections

Libertarian, Direct, Democratic (Dutch:Libertair, Direct, Democratisch,pronounced[libərˈtɛːrdiˈrɛktdeːmoːˈkraːtis];LDD) is aconservative-liberal,^[1]libertarian,^[1][2]right-wing populist^[4][5]Flemishpolitical party inBelgium.

The party surprised commentators by winning five seats in the Chamber and one seat in theSenatein 2007, and eight seats in the2009 Flemish Parliament election.^[7] The party remained with only one federal seat after the2010 election. Previously known asList Dedecker, the party adopted its current name on 22 January 2011.

From 2011 to 2014, the LDD'sMEP,Derk Jan Eppink, was with theEuropean Conservatives and Reformists (ECR)group in theEuropean Parliament.

The party was founded in January 2007 bySenatorJean-Marie Dedecker asList Dedecker(Lijst Dedecker^ⓘ; also 'LDD'). Dedecker had left theNew Flemish Alliance to found the LDD after theCassandrathink tank judged in 2006 that there was room for aright-wing conservative-liberal movement in theFlemish Community, expressing the need for a "common sense party." Dedecker also claimed he wanted to be the Flemish party political equivalent ofGeert Wilders andPim Fortuyn.^[8]

The2007 federal election was the first ever election contested by Lijst Dedecker. They met the 5% threshold for parliamentary representation, in spite of all pre-election polls dismissing the chances for the party. The party won five seats in theChamber of Representatives and one seat in theSenate, surprising many of its opponents.

In the2009 Flemish and European elections, Lijst Dedecker won a disappointing eight seats in theFlemish Parliament and one seat in theEuropean Parliament despite pre-election polls that had indicated a bigger share of the votes for Lijst Dedecker. On 25 June, one member of the LDD fraction crossed the floor to theOpen Flemish Liberals and Democrats, leaving the LDD caucus with seven remaining seats.^[9]

After the2010 federal election, the LDD returned one representative to theChamber of Representatives.

In the2014 federal election, the LDD received of the 0.4% of the vote, returning no representatives.

The party did not run in the2019 federal election and instead focused its activities at a local level. The party currently maintains a chapter inMiddelkerke where Dedecker was elected mayor by a large margin in 2019.Peter Reekmans was also elected as mayor ofGlabbeek affiliated to the LDD. Dedecker was also returned for a brief period as an MP to the Chamber of Representatives in 2019, but as an independent candidate.

The party's economic program is predominantly based onfree marketeconomics, aflat tax system, the reform of unemployment benefits andsocial security schemes and the fight against waste and corruption.

Furthermore, LDD stands for the introduction of a bindingreferendum, the abolition of barriers for new political parties in Belgium and a tougher approach towards crime. The party also strives for a more independentFlanders. LDD is widely considered to beliberal on social issues, in spite of having a strong traditionalconservative wing as well. The party takes aeurosceptic stance towards theEuropean Union and wants a more strict immigration policy.

At the European level, the party allied itself with moderateEurosceptics such as the BritishConservative Party, the CzechCivic Democrats and the PolishLaw and Justice, and sits on theEuropean Conservatives and Reformists group in theEuropean Parliament. LDD was initially expected to align themselves with theEuropean Liberal Democrat and Reform Party (ELDR) after an open invitation to this effect by ELDR chairwomanAnnemie Neyts. Prior to joining the ECR group, LDD was also briefly courted byDeclan Ganley's pan-European movementLibertas.

LDD opposes thecordon sanitaire that is used to keep the far-right separatistVlaams Belang from power, claiming that it is unsuccessful and undemocratic. Some critics even argue that the electoral success of LDD has hampered further growth of Vlaams Belang by virtue of attracting right-wing or protest votes that otherwise would have gone to that party.

At a given point in 2008, LDD was also looking for a political joint venture inWallonia with liberal economistRudy Aernoudt as their partner in this endeavour. In 2010, talks were undertaken with thePeople's Party ofMischaël Modrikamen, which Aernoudt had helped co-found, about political cooperation, but with no tangible result.

The party currently isn't represented in any Belgian parliament, nor in theEuropean Parliament.

Chamber of Representatives (Kamer van Volksvertegenwoordigers)
Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	% of language group vote	# of overall seats won	# of language group seats won	+/–	Government
2007	268,648	4.0	(#5)	5 / 150	5 / 88		in opposition
2010	150,577	2.3	(#7)	1 / 150	1 / 88	4	in opposition

Senate (Senaat)
Election year	# of overall votes	% of overall vote	% of language group vote	# of overall seats won	# of language group seats won	+/–
2007	223,992	3.4		1 / 40	1 / 25
2010	130,777	2.0		0 / 40	0 / 25	1

• Liberal Appeal, the right-wing liberal party of former VLD floor leaderWard Beysen.
• Nova Civitas, the classical-liberal think tank ofBoudewijn Bouckaert.
• Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten, the social-liberal VLD party.
• VLOTT, the right-wing liberal party of former VLD senatorHugo Coveliers.

Media related toLijst Dedecker at Wikimedia Commons

• Official website(in Dutch)

• European Conservatives and Reformists Party member parties
• Conservative liberal parties
• Eurosceptic parties in Belgium
• Flemish political parties in Belgium
• Libertarian conservative parties
• Libertarianism in Belgium
• National liberal parties
• Separatism in Belgium
• Right-wing populism in Belgium
• Right-wing populist parties
• Nationalist parties in Belgium

• Pages using the Phonos extension
• CS1 errors: missing periodical
• CS1 Dutch-language sources (nl)
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles containing Dutch-language text
• Pages with Dutch IPA
• Commons category link is on Wikidata
• Articles with Dutch-language sources (nl)