Free (political party)

Free (Catalan: Lliures) is a Catalan political party founded in October 2016 and registered in December[1][2] by former members of Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC), including former CDC regional minister in Jordi Pujol's sixth government Antoni Fernández Teixidó as well as former UDC deputy Roger Montañola.[3][4] It defines itself as a liberal and Catalanist party opposed to Catalan independence, and since its inception it has struggled to form an unitary Catalanist electoral alliance mirroring the political platform of the late Convergence and Union.[5][6]

Free

Lliures
PresidentAntoni Fernández Teixidó
Secretary-GeneralJoaquim Álvarez Botey
Founded26 October 2016 (2016-10-26)
Registered13 December 2016 (2016-12-13)
Split fromDemocratic Convergence of Catalonia/Catalan European Democratic Party
Democratic Union of Catalonia
HeadquartersC/ Muntaner, 248, 2º-1ª
08021, Barcelona
Ideology
Political positionCentre to centre-right
Colors  Pink
SloganUn partit nou, un nou estil
("A new party, a new style")
Website
www.elslliures.cat

History

The party had collected the required signatures for contesting the 2017 Catalan regional election, but it ultimately declined to do so on the grounds because of the existing "strong political polarization"—resulting from the enforcement of direct rule over Catalonia following the events sparked by the 1 October independence referendum—being "inauspicious for the Catalanist centre".[7][8]

Ahead of the 2019 Barcelona municipal election, the party sought an alliance with the electoral platform of former Prime Minister of France Manuel Valls,[9] but disagreements and alleged breaches of the alliance pact that both parties had signed earlier in the year led to Teixidó's resigning as party president.[10] The party also voiced its opposition to Valls's involvement in the 10 February 2019 demonstration in Madrid against Pedro Sánchez's national government because of it "only favouring Vox", a far-right political party which had been surging in national polling in the aftermath of the 2018 Andalusian regional election.[11] In September 2019, party members in disagreement with the party's policy of coalescing into a Catalanist political platform formed an internal current, dubbed as "2 July spirit", supportive of allying with Valls after the latter's break up with Citizens (Cs) to contest future elections.[12]

The party also attended the "Poblet Meeting" on 21 September 2019, together with about 200 members from the PDeCAT's more moderate sectors, seeking to discuss the political future of the post-convergent political space and its drift towards unilateralism under former Catalan president Carles Puigdemont's National Call for the Republic (CNxR) and his growing influence over CDC's successor, the Catalan European Democratic Party (PDeCAT).[13] Among those attending the Meeting were former PDeCAT coordinator-general Marta Pascal, party colleagues Carles Campuzano, Jordi Xuclà, Marta Pigem or Lluis Recoder, as well as members from other parties aside of Lliures (such as Ramon Espadaler and Albert Batlle from United to Advance (Els Units)).[14][15]

The party had scheduled its merge with the similarly aligned Democratic League (LD) in a party congress to be held in March 2020.[16][17][18] The congress was delayed and then suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain, and new developments up until June 2020 saw Lliures disengaging from the initial merger idea in favour of constituting a broader electoral alliance that could also comprise other parties, such as Els Units or the newly founded Nationalist Party of Catalonia (PNC).[19] On 15 July 2020, it was announced that the party would be forming an electoral alliance with LD and Convergents (CNV) to contest the next Catalan regional election,[20] on the basis of a joint programme pushing for an expansion of Catalan self-government and a solidary fiscal agreement, as well as opposing Catalan independence and unilateralism.[21][22]

References
  1. Cañizares, María Jesús (26 October 2016). "El catalanismo liberal asiste a su puesta de largo ante el empresariado". Crónica Global (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 July 2020.
  2. "Registro de Partidos Políticos". sede.mir.gob.es (in Spanish). Ministry of the Interior. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  3. Fernández, Antonio (5 October 2016). "Lliures, así es el partido de los huidos de CDC con Teixidó y el marido de Arrimadas". El Confidencial (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  4. "Roger Montañola rompe el carné de Unió porque no le permiten compatibilizarlo con Lliures". El Mundo (in Spanish). Barcelona. Europa Press. 2 November 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  5. Manchón, Manel (13 March 2018). "Lliures lanza una OPA al catalanismo abandonado por Mas". Crónica Global (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  6. Ellakuría, Iñaki (4 October 2018). "Lliures llama a PSC y Units a formar un "frente catalanista". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  7. "Lliures concurrirá a las elecciones "para que el catalanismo político tenga voz en el Parlament"". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. Europa Press. 2 November 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  8. "Lliures decide no presentarse a las elecciones del 21D por la "absoluta radicalización" de la vida política en Cataluña". El Mundo (in Spanish). Barcelona. EFE. 14 November 2017. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  9. "Lliures se suma a la candidatura de Manuel Valls para Barcelona". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. EFE. 22 January 2019. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  10. Coca, María Teresa (23 April 2019). "Teixidó deja la presidencia de Lliures a raíz del infructuoso pacto con Valls". El Mundo (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  11. Ellakuría, Iñaki (8 February 2019). "Lliures se desmarca de la manifestación pero reafirma su alianza con Valls". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  12. Ellakuría, Iñaki (27 September 2019). "Nace una corriente interna en Lliures que aboga por pactar con Valls". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  13. "El sector moderado del PDECat se cita en Poblet para debatir sobre su futuro". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Barcelona. 19 August 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  14. "El grup de Poblet celebra la seva primera reunió amb la presència destacada d'exdirigents del PDECat". Ara (in Catalan). Barcelona. 21 September 2019. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  15. Giralt, Esteve (21 September 2019). "El catalanismo crítico con la unilateralidad diseña su plan "posibilista" en Poblet". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Poblet. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  16. Fernández, Antonio (31 January 2020). "Lliures y la Lliga crean un partido catalanista en busca del voto huérfano de CiU". El Confidencial (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  17. Fernández, Marina (19 February 2020). "Los "huérfanos de CiU" se reordenan: la Lliga y Lliures se fusionan en marzo". El Nacional (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  18. Pardo Torregrosa, Iñaki (20 February 2020). "La Lliga Democràtica y Lliures piden que se abran espacios de diálogo para unificar el catalanismo". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  19. Pardo Torregrosa, Iñaki (11 June 2020). "Lliures enfría la fusión con la Lliga Democrática e insiste en la "gran coalición" de catalanistas y centristas". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  20. "La Lliga, Lliures y Convergents se presentarán juntos a las elecciones". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  21. González, David (14 July 2020). "Convergentes, Lliga Democràtica y Lliures acuerdan un programa electoral común". El Nacional (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  22. "Convergents, Lliga y Lliures ultiman una propuesta de mejora del autogobierno". Crónica Global (in Spanish). 15 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
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