Liberal Initiative

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Liberal Initiative (Portugal)
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Liberal Initiative
Iniciativa Liberal
2 / 104
Local government
(Mayors)
0 / 308
Local government
(Parishes)
0 / 3,091
Election symbol
Party flag
Website
iniciativaliberal.pt

The Liberal Initiative, often simply IL (Portuguese: Iniciativa Liberal, pronounced [inisjɐˈtivɐ liβɨˈɾal]) is a liberal political party in Portugal. Founded in 2017, it is currently led by Rui Rocha. The party sits on the centre-right of the political spectrum and has been described as being on the political right by academics and journalists.[11][12][13]

It has 8 elected

Portuguese Parliament.[14]

The party was founded in December 2017, and in October 2019, its debut year at the Portuguese legislative elections, it won one seat in the Portuguese Parliament.[15] It had run in its first elections in May 2019 for the European Parliament and in 2020 supported its first government coalition, at regional level, after the 2020 Azorean regional election.[16]

The party espouses a

labour market.[17] However, it intends to preserve an equitable and universal welfare state to a certain extent.[18][19] In other dimensions of life, the party favours views aligned with cultural and secular liberalism.[20][21]

History

The Liberal Initiative was founded as an association in 2016, and was approved as a party by the

João Cotrim Figueiredo (already a MP at the Portuguese Parliament and incumbent party leader), IL elected seven new MPs for the party, including Carlos Guimarães Pinto
(a former party leader), as MPs.

Ideology and platform

The party has been described as liberal,

liberal right,[29] classical-liberal,[30][failed verification] and libertarian.[17][8][31][32][33] It has been described as centre-right[34][35] and right-wing,[36][31][37][38][39][40] with its policy base described as combining economic liberalism with more progressive stances on cultural issues.[38][41]

According to its own official statements about this topic, the Liberal Initiative was founded with the Oxford Manifesto in mind and believes in individual freedom, by which all individuals have fundamental rights, including the possibility of having a life of their own, owning property or choosing how they want to live in their community, closely following the principles of classical liberalism.[30] The party's conception of freedom encompasses both the economic and social spheres as well as the political and individual spheres,[42] and believes that if any of them are restricted, freedom ceases to exist.[43][44][45][46] The party's political ideas are based on the idea of freedom as the greatest engine of human development, social harmony and economic prosperity.[43][47][48][21] The party's leaders and founders have ascertained that they envisage Portugal as a country that will model itself on Germany's multi-payer health care system – which is paid for by a combination of public health insurance and private health insurance – on Ireland's corporate tax policy and on Estonia's fiscal, educational, and public administration systems,[49][50] following classical liberal economic policies.

On 5 May 2018, the Liberal Initiative approved its political programme under the slogan "Less State, More Freedom" (Menos Estado, Mais Liberdade).[51] The party proposes the reduction of the number of civil servants and the extension of their health system to all Portuguese citizens, as well as extending the freedom for parents to choose their children's school without it necessarily being linked to their address.[52]

The party, which describes itself as a liberal party of all types of liberalism,

social security and a welfare state.[54] The party said that it doesn't want to dismantle the Portuguese welfare state, but instead wants to "rationalize it" based on the principles of "sustainability and equity" by redefining its fairness proposition from the point of view of both social welfare beneficiaries/non-beneficiaries and taxpayers, regardless of age, current or previous occupation and other individual factors.[19][55][18]

Platform for the 2019 legislative election

Among the measures announced for the 2019 parliamentary elections were:

  • Introducing a flat income tax rate of 15%.
  • Extending coverage by the ADSE [pt] ("Instituto de Proteção e Assistência na Doença") to all Portuguese citizens. This body is in charge of health care, and works like a health insurance, for the Portuguese civil servants only.
  • Providing freedom of choice of school in both the state-owned and privately owned systems, through a school-voucher system.
  • Granting more freedom for universities to define admission criteria, and following the American and British models for universities by adopting a student loan funding system.

Party factions

The Liberal Initiative has a number of internal factions:[56][57][58]

Rui Rocha, current party leader.

Classical liberalism

This faction defends opposition to socialism through classical liberalism, calling for a low tax burden and promoting "efficient, effective and accountable government", while defending respect for individual, social, political and economic freedoms.[59]

Social liberalism

This faction adheres to the principles of social liberalism.[59]

Libertarianism

The faction espouses an outright

overstaffing issues in the civil service, productivity gaps and competitiveness problems of the country in the context of the European Union and globalization.[60][61]

Conservative liberalism

The faction supporting Conservative liberalism, although being liberal on economic issues, is more conservative on social issues.[59] By 25 November 2023, most of the members from this faction had left the party,[62] with two joining Chega.[63][64]

Organisation, communication and style

Outdoor.

The party is organised and managed in a decentralised, digitised way. It has no physical headquarters in most municipalities of the country and makes heavy use of

information and communication technologies.[65] Since its foundation, the party made an impact through the acclaimed originality of its communication and marketing campaigns, in particular its eye-catching billboards.[66][67]

Electoral results

Assembly of the Republic

Seats in the Portuguese legislative elections

Election Leader Votes % Seats +/- Government
2019 Carlos Guimarães Pinto 67,681 1.3 (#8)
1 / 230
New Opposition
2022 João Cotrim de Figueiredo 273,687 4.9 (#4)
8 / 230
Increase 7 Opposition
2024 Rui Rocha 319,877 4.9 (#4)
8 / 230
Steady 0 Opposition

European Parliament

Election Leader Votes % Seats +/-
2019 Ricardo Arroja 29,120 0.9 (#11)
0 / 21
New
2024 João Cotrim de Figueiredo TBD TBD
0 / 21

Regional Assemblies

Region Election Leader Votes % Seats +/- Government
Azores 2024 Nuno Barata 2,482 2.2 (#5)
1 / 57
Steady0 Opposition
Madeira 2023 Nuno Morna 3,555 2.6 (#6)
1 / 47
Increase1 Opposition

Local elections

Election Leader Votes % Councillors +/- Mayors +/- Assemblies +/- Parishes +/-
2021
João Cotrim Figueiredo
64,849 1.3 (#8)
1 / 2,064
New
0 / 308
New
26 / 6,448
New
45 / 26,797
New

Presidential elections

Election Candidate Votes %
2021 Tiago Mayan Gonçalves 134,991 3.2 (#6)

Assembly of the Republic

15th Legislature (2022 – 2024)
14th Legislature (2019 – 2022)

List of presidents

Name Portrait Constituency Start End Prime minister
1 Miguel Ferreira da Silva
(b. 1972)
Lisbon 26 November 2017 13 October 2018 António Costa (2015–2024)
2 Carlos Guimarães Pinto
(b. 1983)
Porto 13 October 2018 8 December 2019
3 João Cotrim de Figueiredo
(b. 1961)
Lisbon 8 December 2019 22 January 2023
4 Rui Rocha
(b. 1970)
Braga 22 January 2023 present
Luís Montenegro (2024-present)
Rui RochaJoão Cotrim de FigueiredoCarlos Guimarães Pinto


References

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External links