The Liberal Alternative (french: Alternative Libérale or AL) was a French political party created on March 1, 2006. The party advocates for

classical liberalism Classical liberalism is a political tradition Political culture describes how culture impacts politics. Every political system is embedded in a particular political culture. Definition Gabriel Almond defines it as "the particular patt ...

and

libertarianism Libertarianism (from french: libertaire, "libertarian"; from la, libertas, "freedom") is a political philosophy that upholds liberty as a core value. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state's en ...

and against

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and

conservatism 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 civilizati ...

. Therefore their political colour is purple, between the red of the left-wing and the blue of the right-wing. It advocates stronger powers given to the

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

and a separation from the

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

; favouring a presidential/

congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

ional system as opposed to a strict parliamentary system. It emphasizes a more political, rather than economic, role in the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...

(EU) to promote

civil liberties Civil liberties are guarantees and freedoms that governments commit not to abridge, either by constitution, legislation, or judicial interpretation, without due process. Though the scope of the term differs between countries, civil liberties may ...

and

liberalism Liberalism is a political and moral philosophy based on the rights of the individual, liberty, consent of the governed, political equality and equality before the law."political rationalism, hostility to autocracy, cultural distaste for c ...

as the basis of the

EU Constitution The Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe (TCE; commonly referred to as the European Constitution or as the Constitutional Treaty) was an unratified international treaty intended to create a consolidated constitution for the European U ...

. Some members of

Liberté chérie Liberté chérie (French for "Cherished Liberty") was a Masonic Lodge founded in 1943 by Belgian Resistance fighters and other political prisoners at Esterwegen concentration camp. It was one of the few lodges of Freemasons founded within a Na ...

, 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 ...

association, took part in the creation of the ''Liberal Alternative'', including Édouard Fillias, founder of Liberté Chérie, Aurélien Veron, former president and Sabine Herold, cofounder.

Popular support and electoral record

In the

2007 presidential election This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...

, Édouard Fillias, the founder and leader of AL, failed to obtain the necessary endorsements from at least 500 French elected officials. Liberal Alternative, with no candidate of its own, endorsed the centrist

Union for French Democracy The Union for French Democracy (french: Union pour la démocratie française, UDF) was a centre to centre-right political party in France. It was founded in 1978 as an electoral alliance to support President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing in order to c ...

(UDF) candidate

François Bayrou François René Jean Lucien Bayrou (; born 25 May 1951) is a French politician who has presided over the Democratic Movement (MoDem) since he founded it in 2007. A centrist, he was a candidate in the 2002, 2007 and 2012 presidential elections. ...

. Liberal Alternative also fielded nearly 50 candidates for the 2007 legislative elections, it obtained between 0.09% and 1.49%.

European Parliament

Despite a recent split, AL ran five lists in the

2009 European Parliament election The 2009 European Parliament election was held in the 27 member states of the European Union (EU) between 4 and 7 June 2009. A total of 736 Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were elected to represent some 500 million Europeans, making th ...

: in the Île-de-France, West, East, South East and South-West constituencies. Overall, the party won 0.10% in Île-de-France, 0.26% in the East, 0.13% in the South-West, 0.02% in the South-East, and 0.18% in the West.

References

External links

Liberal Alternative website (English pages)

Commentary in the Wall Street Journal

An Interview with Sabine Herold on Politics, France, and Freedom
{{French political parties Classical liberal parties Libertarian parties Libertarianism in France Centrist parties in France Political parties of the French Fifth Republic Political parties established in 2006