Démocratie Libérale
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Liberal Democracy
Démocratie libérale |
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|---|---|
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| President | Alain Madelin |
| Vice President | Jean-Pierre Raffarin |
| Founded | May 16, 1998 |
| Dissolved | November 17, 2002 |
| Preceded by | Republican Party |
| Merged into | Union for a Popular Movement |
| Headquarters | Paris |
| Youth wing | Young Liberals |
| Ideology |
Conservative liberalism Classical liberalism |
| Political position | Centre-right |
| European affiliation | None |
| International affiliation | None |
| European Parliament group | European People's Party |
| Colours | Blue |
Liberal Democracy (French: Démocratie Libérale, DL) was a conservative-liberalpolitical party in France existing between 1997 and 2002. Headed by Alain Madelin, the party replaced the Republican Party, which was the classical liberal component of the Union for French Democracy (UDF).
After Madelin won the leadership of the Republican Party on 24 June 1997 with 59.9% of the vote, he renamed the organisation 'Liberal Democracy', and moved the party further towards economic liberalism. This followed the formation of the Democratic Force (FD) by the centrist, Christian democratic component of the Union for French Democracy (UDF), leading to internal rivalry.
Liberal Democracy became independent in 1998, after a split from the UDF. The immediate cause of this departure was Liberal Democracy's refusal to condemn the election of four UDF president of Regional Councils with the votes of the National Front. However, the party had already feared that a tighter UDF would be dominated by economic centrists, preventing his free-market policies being heard.
Thus, Liberal Democracy voted on 16 May 1998 to become a separate party, with Madelin launching the 'Ten Tough Choices' programme advocating transforming the political debate in France. The economic liberals that refused to break ranks with the UDF launched the Independent Republican and Liberal Pole, which later merged with FD and the so-called 'Direct Adherents' to form the New UDF.
In the 1999 EU elections DL ran with the RPR list led by Nicolas Sarkozy. However, the pro-European tone of the RPR-DL campaign deceived and the list was placed in third, behind the eurosceptic RPF list led by Charles Pasqua and Philippe de Villiers. DL obtained four MEPs: Alain Madelin, Françoise Grossetête, Thierry Jean-Pierre and Hervé Novelli.
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