Free Liberals (Grundhavn)
Free Liberals Frihedsliberale | |
---|---|
Abbreviation | FL |
Leader | Kirsten Møller |
President | Hanne Ibsen |
Deputy Leader | Johan Petersen |
Founded | November 2, 1977 |
Split from | Constitutional Liberal Party |
Headquarters | 10 Central Square, Grundhavn |
Student wing | FL Students (FL Studerende) |
Youth wing | Youth for Liberty (Ungdom for Frihed) |
Membership (2021) | 4,700 |
Ideology | Classical liberalism
Right-libertarianism Cultural liberalism |
Political position | Right-wing |
Colors | Light Blue |
Slogan | The Party of Innovation (Innovationens partiet) |
Anthem | "Song of Liberty" (Frihedens sang) |
City Council | 3 / 56
|
Quarter Councils (in government) | 0 / 8
|
Quarter Council Seats | 0 / 78
|
The Free Liberals (Grundhavish: Frihedsliberale) is a Grundhavish right-wing, classical liberal and libertarian party. One of the newest parties on the Grundhavish political scene, the FL have never elected a Lord Mayor or a Supreme Councillor, but steadily growing in vote share and seats on the City Council since their founding. Their current leader is Kirsten Møller, elected in 2017. They were formed as a split from the CLP in 1977 when some members felt they had drifted too far from liberal principles.
The FL is both more economically and culturally liberal than the CLP, with some members being libertarian in their sympathies. Their platform calls for the abolition of income tax and its replacement with a value-added tax, but in practice, they support a low, flat, income tax with no or very few exemptions. They also are advocates of deregulation and no barriers to trade. On social and cultural issues, they support the legality of abortion up to the point of viability, same-sex marriage, legalization of marijuana and decriminalization of other drugs, and few restrictions on immigration.
History[edit | edit source]
Following the establishment of the Second Allied Provinces of Laeral, the Laeralian National Congress was the dominant political force on the right. A broad-tent party consisting of those opposed to the Rose Revolution and Gramontism, the Congress was hampered while in power by internal dissension, as evidenced by the infighting that led the moderate, incumbent Congress President Georges Auriol replaced as nominee by the more hardline Henri Laniel ahead of the 1968 presidential election. Under the presidency of Progressive Joseph Carlier, Congress split dramatically over the issue of whether to oppose the civil code reform being supported by Progressives, which included liberalization of divorce and abortion law. In addition to a similar intra-party debate over a proposal limiting pensions for former military and civil servants, this led influential Congress politicians such as former Prime Minister Paul Evrard to defect and form the Conservative Party.
The Conservatives initially became quite popular among rural Arrivée voters, particularly Catholics, who bore loyalties to Evrard from his tenure as Prime Minister and from whom the Conservatives sourced many of their members and leaders. As conservative voters began to drift from Congress to the Conservatives, the Conservative vote share increased rapidly, culminating in Paul Evrard's narrow victory in the 1980 presidential election. Successive Conservative governments during the 1980s focused on economic growth coupled with decentralization of public functions and desecularization efforts. The Conservatives were however marginalized on the right by the Laeralian People's Party, which arose in a backlash against the Meihua Movement. By the late 80s, the Conservatives had been forced into minority government status and eventual junior partnership in coalition governments with the People's Party.
The Conservative share of the vote held steady around 25% throughout the 1990s and 2000s, although the Conservatives continued to perform well in the General Assembly due to that body's inherent tilt towards rural provinces. The Conservatives, though rarely able to have a presidential candidate reaching the second round of the presidential election, nevertheless remained an integral part of various coalition governments, notably serving in coalition with the Progressives and Socialists from 2010 to 2018. In the 2018 election, the Conservative vote share reached historic lows, as the Conservatives were reduced to only 38 of 386 seats in the Assembly of Commons.