Sociaal-Liberale Partij (, abbr. SLP;
Dutch for Social Liberal Party) was a
Belgian Flemish political party formed after dissolution of the moderate nationalist
People's Union (''Volksunie'') party. Prior to 19 April 2008 it was known as Spirit, and intermediately as Flemish Progressives (VlaamsProgressieven). The party merged with
Groen
Groen or de Groen is a surname of Dutch people, Dutch origin, meaning ''green''.social liberal
Social liberalism is a political philosophy and variety of liberalism that endorses social justice, social services, a mixed economy, and the expansion of civil and political rights, as opposed to classical liberalism which favors limited g ...
Spirit and the centre-right
New-Flemish Alliance (N-VA), which formed an
electoral alliance
An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections.
E ...
with the
Christian Democratic and Flemish
Christian Democratic and Flemish (, ; CD&V) is a Flemish Christian-democratic political party in Belgium. The party has historical ties to both trade unionism ( ACV) and trade associations ( UNIZO) and the Farmer's League. Until 2001, the party w ...
(CD&V) party. The formation of the alliances was seen as a way in which Spirit and N-VA could guarantee their influence and position in
Flemish and
Belgian politics. This led the liberal wing to initially opt for an Alliance with
Flemish Liberals and Democrats.
Abbreviation
Spirit was the abbreviation for
*Sociaal (Social)
*Progressief (Progressive)
*Internationaal (International)
*Regionalistisch (Regional)
*Integraal-democratisch (Completely democratic)
*Toekomstgericht (Future oriented)
2007 elections
In the 10 June 2007
general elections
A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General elections ...
, the Social Liberal party was in an electoral alliance with
Socialist Party Different (sp.a) and won 14 out of 88 Flemish seats in the
Chamber of Representatives and 4 out of 40 Flemish seats in the
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
.
In the autumn of 2008, following a scandal causing its leader,
Bettina Geysen to step down, the Social Liberal Party ended its cooperation with SP.A.
Geert Lambert
Geert Lambert (born 28 February 1967) is a Belgian politician and lawyer. He was the president of Spirit, a Flemish political party, from 2004 until 2007, when he was succeeded by Bettina Geysen. In 2003 he became a member of the Chamber of Re ...
was elected the new leader. Many prominent party members, including cofounder
Bert Anciaux, left the party.
See also
*
L² - The youth organization of Vl.Pro
References
External links
*
Defunct political parties in Belgium
Flemish Movement
Flemish political parties in Belgium
Green liberalism
Social liberal parties
Political parties disestablished in 2009
2009 disestablishments in Belgium
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