Liberal Party of Chile (2013)

Chilean social liberalism

In Chile, the word liberal is, after the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet, often synonymous with technocracy and neoliberalism, since Pinochet based his reforms on the neoliberalism presented by Milton Friedman and the Chicago boys. 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 20th century, the Liberal Party of Chile intends to combine its economic policy with a strong social policy. In Latin America the majority of the liberal parties are founded on neoliberalism and therefore the Liberal Party of Chile is one of the only social liberal parties in Latin America.

Platform

The Liberal Party of Chile supports same-sex marriage,^[2] the legalisation of marijuana,^[3] the legalisation of abortion^[4] and the legalisation of euthanasia.^[5] Further, they support decentralization,^[6] 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.^[7]

Chilean social liberalism 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. The label "liberal" was afterwards captured by the economists — also known as the Chicago Boys — that inspired the dictatorship.^[8] However historical liberal ideas such as the defence of civil rights were not practised during the dictatorship and, during the governments of the Concertacion, conservatism characterised Chilean politics. Thus. the liberalism present in Chile in the years after Pinochet was predominantly neoliberalism. The system established in Chile during the dictatorship was not challenged much until the middle of 2011. The Chilean student protests of 2011 showed for the first time in 35 years a general discomfort with the Chilean political system which was criticized for excessively favouring the privatization of public benefits.^[9] 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. Finally, the demonstrations also criticized the Constitutional Court for having veto power.

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.^[10] 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^[11] 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.^[12] 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.

Parliamentary elections

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

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)

Deputies