Spanish liberal party launched ahead of EU elections

A new Spanish party, the Democratic Liberal Centre, was launched yesterday (24 September) in the European Parliament, with the clear objective of grabbing seats in next June’s European elections.

Manuel Alonso, the leader of the Democratic Liberal Centre, presented his party as centrist, European, progressive and innovative, saying it would offer another option for citizens who do not feel represented by the Spanish centre-left and centre-right political families. 

He said the party would seek a wide, pluralist representation for the European elections, with the aim of having a stronger Spanish liberal team in the next European Parliament. 

Graham Watson, leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) in the European Parliament, welcomed the birth of the new party, which he said would offer “a liberal alternative across the entire territory of Spain”. 

He said the time was ripe for a nationwide liberal party, because the challenges facing society could no longer be solved between traditional “left-right divisions”. 

Currently, the ALDE group is represented in Parliament by two Spanish MEPs, but they were elected via regional parties, the PNV in the Basque country and Convergència Democràtica Catalunya in the Barcelona region. 

According to the DLC leader, the party is already counts some 1,300 activists among its ranks, who are spreading the message that the Spanish now have a new political option. He said the party would aim to provide fresh ideas to deal with the difficult economic and political situation. 

Alonso was active in the youth movement of the Democratic and Social Centre in the early 1980s, a liberal party led by Adolfo Suarez which was not on the political scene for long. 

Responding to an enquiry by EURACTIV, Graham Watson named Portugal and Slovakia as two more EU countries where the ALDE group would welcome the establishment of liberal political parties ahead of the European elections. 

“We are aware that there is an increase in demand for liberalism. If we were a quoted company, our stock would be rising at the stocking markets,” said Watson. 

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