Liberal Party of Chile (2013)

The Liberal Party of Chile (Spanish: Partido Liberal de Chile) is a social-liberal political party in Chile, founded 26 January 2013 in Santiago, Chile. The president and main figure of the party is the deputy Vlado Mirosevic.

This article is about the modern party founded in 2013. For the historical party, see Liberal Party (Chile, 1849).

Liberal Party of Chile

Partido Liberal de Chile
PresidentLuis Felipe Ramos
FounderVlado Mirosevic
Founded26 January 2013
HeadquartersSantiago de Chile
IdeologySocial liberalism
Progressivism
Reformism
Secularism
Federalism
E-democracy
Political positionCentre to Centre-left
National affiliationBroad Front (2016-present)
International affiliationLiberal International
ColoursBlue and red
Chamber of Deputies
2 / 155
Senate
0 / 43
Website
www.losliberales.cl

Ideology

The Liberal Party of Chile is a social-liberal party. It promotes egalitarian liberalism and progressivism (with particular reference to the social liberalism in Europe).

Chilean social liberalism

In Chile, the word liberal is, after the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, often synonymous with technocracy, classic liberalism and neoliberalism. 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.

Platform

The Liberal Party of Chile supports same-sex marriage,[1] the legalisation of marijuana,[2] the legalisation of abortion[3] and the legalisation of euthanasia.[4] Further, they support decentralization,[5] which also opposes the heritage of Pinochet who implemented centralism in the country. Finally, the party supports changing the Chilean constitution implemented by Pinochet in 1980.[6]

History

Chilean social-liberal tradition

The Liberal Party of Chile is inspired by the tradition of Chilean liberals from before the rise of Pinochet and Chilean neoliberalism. They supported a federal 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 were Ramón Freire, José Miguel Infante, Francisco Bilbao, Pedro León Gallo Goyenechea, Domingo Santa María and José Manuel Balmaceda.

Chilean political context

In Chile the historic Liberal Party ceased to exist in 1966 when it merged with the United Conservative Party, giving rise to the National Party which supported the coup d'état of 1973[7] 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 the privatization of education.[8] The demonstrations criticized using the market as the main resource allocator and the private sector to manage many public services. The criticism also targeted the constitution, since major legislative changes require super-majorities in the congress while the electoral system favours two political blocs, which impedes political processes.

Birth of Liberal Party of Chile

The Liberal party of Chile originated in the ChileFirst (ChilePrimero) movement. ChileFirst was a political movement created in 2007 by former members of the Party for Democracy (Partido por la Democracia) led by Senator Fernando Flores Labra and supporting the candidature of Sebastián Piñera in the presidential 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.[9] 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[10] and especially by the values of secularism, democratic reforms and freedom of initiative.

On 15 June 2013 the party announced the formation of an electoral alliance with the Progressive Party (Partido Progresista – PRO) and decided to support Marco Enriquez Ominame for president in the election of 2013.[11] The pact was called "If you want Chile changes" (Si tuquires 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 of Arica and Parinacota. In 2017 the party joined the left-wing coaliation Frente Amplio.

Presidential candidates

The following is a list of the presidential candidates supported by the Liberal Party. (Information gathered from the Archive of Chilean Elections).

Electoral results

Parliamentary elections

Parliamentary election results for deputies in District 1 (Arica, Parinacota, General Lagos y Putre)

Election Deputies
Votes % of the votes Seats
2013 14,237 21,25 Vlado Mirosevic

Leaders
  • President: Vlado Mirosevic (2013–present)
  • Vice president: José Carreño (2013–present)
  • Vice president (Biobío): Osmán Vásquez (2014–present)
  • Vice president (Coquimbo): Kenneth Romero (2014–present)
  • Vice president (Arica y Parinacota): Carlos Avilés (2014–2015)
  • Secretary General: Iván Morán (2013–present)

Authorities

Deputies
Name Region District Period
Vlado Mirosevic Region of Arica and Parinacota 1 2014–2018 / 2018-2022
Alejandro Bernales Region of Los Lagos 26 2018-2022
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References
  1. "Grupo de diputados ingresa proyecto de matrimonio igualitario". https://www.facebook.com/teletrece (in Spanish). Retrieved 17 November 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  2. "Diputados piden renuncia del director del Senda por dar 'giro conservador' en debate de la marihuana". www.latercera.com. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  3. "Vlado Mirosevic: "En materia de aborto, Chile está hoy al nivel de Angola" - Zero 97.7". https://www.facebook.com/Zero977. Retrieved 17 November 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  4. "Vlado Mirosevic sobre eutanasia: "Hay una especie de censura que es de la jerarquía de la Iglesia Católica" - CNN Chile". www.cnnchile.com. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  5. Campos, Paula. "Vlado Mirosevic: "Mejor el financiamiento público de las campañas que el lobby de las empresas"". Diario y Radio Uchile. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  6. "Vlado Mirosevic: "La asamblea constituyente es el único mecanismo legítimo para devolver el poder a la ciudadanía"". El Mostrador. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  7. Yaitul Stormansan, Jorge (December 2011). "LOS AÑOS DEL CAPITALISMO RENOVADO: LA INFLUENCIA DE MILTON FRIEDMAN EN CHILE. LA INSTAURACIÓN DEL MODELO ECONÓMICO". Espacio Regional.
  8. "2015 – Los Tiempos de la Politización | en Chile". desarrollohumano.cl. Retrieved 17 November 2015.
  9. "ChilePrimero se reconvierte – Revista Qué Pasa". Revista Qué Pasa (in Spanish). Retrieved 11 November 2015.
  10. Mirosevic, Vlado (2015). Liberales Plebeyos. 978-956-01-0215-7: Ril editores. pp. 37–69.CS1 maint: location (link)
  11. "ME-O llamó a no comprar "fruta podrida" que ofrece "dupolio" tras proclamación de Partido Liberal". https://www.facebook.com/RadioBioBio. Retrieved 11 November 2015. External link in |website= (help)
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