Sociaal-Liberale Partij (, abbr. SLP;

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

for Social Liberal Party) was a Belgian

Flemish Flemish may refer to: * Flemish, adjective for Flanders, Belgium * Flemish region, one of the three regions of Belgium *Flemish Community, one of the three constitutionally defined language communities of Belgium * Flemish dialects, a Dutch dialec ...

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 The New Flemish Alliance ( ; N-VA) is a Flemish nationalist, conservative political party in Belgium. The party was established in 2001 by the right-leaning faction of the centrist-nationalist People's Union (VU). The N-VA is a regionalist an ...

(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

and Belgian politics. This led the liberal wing to initially opt for an Alliance with

Flemish Liberals and Democrats The Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (, , Open Vld) is a Flemish liberal political party in Belgium. The party has been described as centre-right and has smaller factions within the party that have conservative liberal and social liberal v ...

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 Vooruit (, Dutch for Forward) is a Flemish social democratic political party in Belgium. It was formerly known as the (Flemish) Socialist Party (1978–2001: ''Socialistische Partij'', SP; 2001–2021: ''Socialistische Partij Anders'' , , SP. ...

(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 Bettina Geysen (born 17 July 1969) was president of Spirit, a Flemish political party, from October 2007 until 19 November 2008. She succeeded Geert Lambert Geert Lambert (born 28 February 1967) is a Belgian politician and lawyer. He was the ...

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 Bert Jozef Herman Vic Anciaux (born 11 September 1959) is a Belgian politician and Vooruit faction leader in the Belgian Senate. He was one of the founders of Spirit (later known as the Flemish Progressives, then the Social Liberal Party, or ...

, left the party.

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 {{Belgium-party-stub

Abbreviation

2007 elections

See also

References

External links