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The Liberal Party ( pt, Partido Liberal, PL) is a
conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization ...
and
national liberal National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...
political party in Brazil. From its foundation in 2006 until 2019, it was called the Party of the Republic ( pt, Partido da República, PR). The party was founded in 2006 as a merger of the 1985
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
and the
Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order The Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order (Portuguese: ''Partido de Reedificação da Ordem Nacional'', PRONA) was a nationalist political party in Brazil. Its electoral code was 56 and its colors were the traditional Brazilian green ...
(PRONA), as a
big tent A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a term used in reference to a political party's policy of permitting or encouraging a broad spectrum of views among its members. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined i ...
,
centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and me ...
party, and is considered part of the '' Centrão'', a bloc of parties without consistent ideological orientation that support different sides of the political spectrum in order to gain political privileges. In 2021, it became the base of the incumbent president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, for the 2022 Brazilian general election. This led to many of his supporters joining the party, which thereby became the largest bloc in the National Congress of Brazil.


History

The Party of the Republic was founded on 26 October 2006, by the merger of the old
Liberal Party The Liberal Party is any of many political parties around the world. The meaning of ''liberal'' varies around the world, ranging from liberal conservatism on the right to social liberalism on the left. __TOC__ Active liberal parties This is a li ...
— which initially started as a
classical liberal Classical liberalism is a political tradition and a branch of liberalism that advocates free market and laissez-faire economics; civil liberties under the rule of law with especial emphasis on individual autonomy, limited government, economic ...
party, but slowly shifted towards social conservatism after it became influenced by
evangelicals Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual experi ...
— and the
Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order The Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order (Portuguese: ''Partido de Reedificação da Ordem Nacional'', PRONA) was a nationalist political party in Brazil. Its electoral code was 56 and its colors were the traditional Brazilian green ...
(''Partido da Reedificação da Ordem Nacional'', PRONA) — a far-right
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
party. The merger was performed in order to surpass the Electoral threshold of 5%, but also as a rebranding as the Liberal Party was heavily implicated in the Mensalão scandal. Historically the party was a pragmatic party of business interests, supporting the candidacies of Lula and Dilma from the Workers' Party (PT) for the sake of moderating their presidencies. It generally supported a form of
Lulism Lulism ( pt-BR, Lulismo) is a political ideology describing the 2006 consolidation of segments of Brazilian society previously hostile to social movements and the Workers' Party behind political forces led by President Luiz Inácio Lula da S ...
, which had less economic regulation. As such, the Party of the Republic was considered part of the '' Centrão''. PR's predecessor, the Liberal Party, was heavily involved in the Mensalão - a vote-buying scheme done by the Workers' Party in order to gain support in the
National Congress ''National Congress'' is a term used in the names of various political parties and legislatures . Political parties *Ethiopia: Oromo National Congress *Guyana: People's National Congress (Guyana) *India: Indian National Congress *Iraq: Iraqi Nati ...
, and Lula's
Vice President A vice president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vice president is on ...
José Alencar José Alencar Gomes da Silva (; 17 October 1931 – 29 March 2011) was a Brazilian businessman, entrepreneur and politician who served as the 23rd vice president of Brazil from 1 January 2003 to 31 December 2010. In business from a young age, A ...
was a member of the old PL. During the 2010 elections, the Party of the Republic focused on the parliamentary elections; it won 41 of the 513 seats in the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourbon R ...
and 4 of the 81 Senate seats. One of PR's elected politicians was professional humorist and professional clown
Tiririca Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva (born 1 May 1965), best known by his stage name Tiririca, is a Brazilian actor, clown, comedian, humorist, politician and singer-songwriter. He currently represents the state of São Paulo as a representative in ...
, who became the
State of São Paulo State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * '' Our ...
's most voted representative with more than one million votes, and due to Brazil's proportional voting system, Tiririca thus supported PR in electing a sizeable amount of representatives. Sergio Victor Tamer, founder of the Party of the Republic, was the party's president from 2006 to 2014. Alfredo Nascimento succeeded Tamer as president of the PR until April 2016, when he resigned due to party leadership not supporting the
impeachment of Dilma Rousseff The impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, the 36th president of Brazil, began on 2 December 2015 with a petition for her impeachment being accepted by Eduardo Cunha, then president of the Chamber of Deputies, and continued into late 2016. Dilma Rous ...
. However, 26 of the PR's MPs did vote for her impeachment. After that move by its MPs, the party took a more rightward turn away from its bipartisan past and supported
Geraldo Alckmin Geraldo José Rodrigues Alckmin Filho (; born 7 November 1952) is a Brazilian politician who is the vice president-elect of Brazil. He previously served as the Governor of São Paulo from 2001 to 2006, and then again from 2011 to 2018, the lon ...
's failed campaign in the
2018 Brazilian presidential election General elections were held in Brazil on 7 October 2018 to elect the president, National Congress and state governors. As no candidate in the presidential election received more than 50% of the vote in the first round, a runoff round was held ...
. On 7 May 2019, the Superior Electoral Court (TSE) voted to approve a motion of the party to change its name back to Liberal Party (PL). According to party leadership, the change was done in order to return to the party's roots as body defending economic liberalism,
Free market In economics, a free market is an economic system in which the prices of goods and services are determined by supply and demand expressed by sellers and buyers. Such markets, as modeled, operate without the intervention of government or any ...
and low intervention of the state in the economy. The social positions of the party remained socially conservative, however. Other specialists point it out as part of a national tendency of parties in Brazil rebranding in order to get better perception from the electorate due a process of loss of trust caused by the Brazilian political crisis, and also riding a wave of pro-liberalism sentiment in Brazil. On 30 November 2021, President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro and his son Senator
Flávio Bolsonaro Flávio Nantes Bolsonaro (born 30 April 1981) is a Brazilian politician, lawyer and entrepreneur who is the eldest child of Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro. He was a Member of the Legislative Assembly of the State of Rio de Janeiro from ...
— who were previously affiliated with the Social Liberal Party (PSL) and left it, attempting to create the
Alliance for Brazil Alliance for Brazil ( pt, Aliança pelo Brasil, ALIANÇA) was a Brazilian far-right political group that aimed to become a political party. With national-conservative roots, it was announced by President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro on 12 November 201 ...
party with no avail — joined the PL in preparation for the 2022 Brazilian general election (as presidential candidates must be affiliated with a political party). He had previously considered returning to the Progressists (PP), the Social Christian Party (PSC), Brazilian Labour Party (PTB), as well negotiation with number of other smaller and/or right-wing parties. Bolsonaro's affiliation to the PL has been pointed out by analysts as a consolidation of an alliance with the '' Centrão''. In the 2022 general election, the party has formed a presidential ticket and many gubernatorial tickets with a hard right coalition of the Republicans and the Progressitas (PP). The election was a great success to the party, resulting on PL becoming the largest bloc in the National Congress of Brazil with 99 seats and the Federal Senate with 13 seats. According to some analysts, the party has been divided between two wide factions: one from traditional ''Centrão'' politicians loyal to party president
Valdemar Costa Neto Valdemar Costa Neto (born 11 August 1949) is a Brazilian politician. He is a congressman and president for the Liberal Party (PL), current party of the elected President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955 ...
, and a Bolsonarist one, composed by about two-thirds of the PL's elected bench, coming from his followers from PSL. In an interview, Neto revealed he fears that in case Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is elected president, there will be a split in the party as the traditional faction might want to align themselves with a possible PT government, while the Bolsonarist branch will form an opposition.


Ideology

The Liberal Party is a
big tent A big tent party, or catch-all party, is a term used in reference to a political party's policy of permitting or encouraging a broad spectrum of views among its members. This is in contrast to other kinds of parties, which defend a determined i ...
conservative party. The Liberal Party are described as
centre-right Centre-right politics lean to the right of the political spectrum, but are closer to the centre. From the 1780s to the 1880s, there was a shift in the Western world of social class structure and the economy, moving away from the nobility and me ...
or right-wing. Though previously a party of
national liberalism National liberalism is a variant of liberalism, combining liberal policies and issues with elements of nationalism. Historically, national liberalism has also been used in the same meaning as conservative liberalism (right-liberalism). A seri ...
, before its merger with
PRONA The Party of the Reconstruction of the National Order (Portuguese: ''Partido de Reedificação da Ordem Nacional'', PRONA) was a nationalist political party in Brazil. Its electoral code was 56 and its colors were the traditional Brazilian green ...
, the party has increasingly been affiliated with the anti-democratic right in Brazil. This has come as a result of the party's joining around the political philosophy of Jair Bolsonaro, who was initially affiliated with the PSL and other socially conservative parties. With the questioning of democracy, foreign policy, and the anti-democratic statements of Bolsonaro, the party seems to have re-embraced some of the tendencies of the head of PRONA Eneas Carneiro, a noted supporter of LaRoucheism, the previous military dictatorship, and a right wing opposition to neoliberalism. Generally the party is right-wing populist, economically liberal, but socially anti liberal and pro-
Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide interdenominational movement within Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "born again", in which an individual exper ...
, aligning with the ideology of Bolsonaro. The party is agrarian, pro-military, and
pro-life Anti-abortion movements, also self-styled as pro-life or abolitionist movements, are involved in the abortion debate advocating against the practice of abortion and its legality. Many anti-abortion movements began as countermovements in respons ...
. The party promotes a generally more economically open form of
Brazilian nationalism Brazilian nationalism refers to the nationalism of Brazilian people and Brazilian culture. It became strong during the declaration of Independence of Brazil, in the 19th century. History Brazil was initially a colony of Portugal, established ...
than Carneiro. The party has frequently supported Bolsonaro's attacks on the media and the election system in Brazil.


Notable members

* Jair Bolsonaro, former army captain,
Federal Deputy The Chamber of Deputies ( pt, Câmara dos Deputados) is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. The chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year t ...
for Rio de Janeiro from to
1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Ph ...
to 2018, and President of Brazil since
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
* Flavio Bolsonaro, entrepreneur,
Federal Deputy The Chamber of Deputies ( pt, Câmara dos Deputados) is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. The chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year t ...
for Rio de Janeiro from
2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, disintegrated during reentry into Atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an 2002– ...
to 2019, and Senator for Rio de Janeiro since 2019 *
Tiririca Francisco Everardo Oliveira Silva (born 1 May 1965), best known by his stage name Tiririca, is a Brazilian actor, clown, comedian, humorist, politician and singer-songwriter. He currently represents the state of São Paulo as a representative in ...
, comedian, singer-songwriter, and
Federal Deputy The Chamber of Deputies ( pt, Câmara dos Deputados) is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. The chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year t ...
for São Paulo since
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...
* Romário, football player and Senator for Rio de Janeiro *
Marco Feliciano Marco Antônio Feliciano (born 12 October 1972) is a Brazilian politician as well as a pastor, writer, film producer, and theologian. He has spent his political career representing São Paulo (state), São Paulo, having served as federal deputy re ...
, pastor and
Federal Deputy The Chamber of Deputies ( pt, Câmara dos Deputados) is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. The chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year t ...
for São Paulo since
2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrates ...
* Flávia Arruda, entrepreneur, Secretary of Government from 2021 to 2022, and
Federal Deputy The Chamber of Deputies ( pt, Câmara dos Deputados) is a federal legislative body and the lower house of the National Congress of Brazil. The chamber comprises 513 deputies, who are elected by proportional representation to serve four-year t ...
for the Federal District since
2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
*
Valdemar Costa Neto Valdemar Costa Neto (born 11 August 1949) is a Brazilian politician. He is a congressman and president for the Liberal Party (PL), current party of the elected President of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro Jair Messias Bolsonaro (; born 21 March 1955 ...
, former Federal Deputy for São Paulo from 1991 to 2005 and from 2007 to 2013 and current Party President *
Onyx Lorenzoni Onyx Dornelles Lorenzoni (born 3 October 1954) is a Brazilian politician, businessman, and veterinarian. A member of the Liberal Party (PL), he is a federal deputy from Rio Grande do Sul in his fourth term. After the 2018 Brazilian general elec ...
, veterinarian,
cabinet minister A minister is a politician who heads a ministry, making and implementing decisions on policies in conjunction with the other ministers. In some jurisdictions the head of government is also a minister and is designated the ‘prime minister’, ...
, and politician from Rio Grande do Sul


Electoral results


Presidential elections


Legislative elections


See also

* Fiscal conservatism *
Liberty Korea Party The Liberty Korea Party () was a conservative political party in South Korea that was described variously as right-wing, right-wing populist, or far-right. Until February 2017, it was known as the Saenuri Party (), and before that as the Hanna ...
/ People Power Party (South Korea) — the country's mainstream conservative party, it gradually turned right-wing populistic *
Liberal Party of Australia The Liberal Party of Australia is a centre-right political party in Australia, one of the two major parties in Australian politics, along with the centre-left Australian Labor Party. It was founded in 1944 as the successor to the United Austra ...
— a similarly named party with a liberal-conservative position * Liberal Democratic Party (Japan) — another similarly named party with a right-wing position * List of political parties in Brazil


Notes


References

{{Brazil political parties Conservative parties in Brazil 2006 establishments in Brazil Political parties established in 2006 Right-wing parties in South America