The Young Liberals Party ( bg, Младолиберална партия, ''Mladoliberalna partiya'', MLP) was a political party in

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedon ...

during the early 20th century.

History

The party was established in 1904 by Dimitar Tonchev after a group of Radoslavist Liberal Party members were expelled following a failed attempt to remove

Vasil Radoslavov Vasil Hristov Radoslavov ( bg, Васил Христов Радославов) (27 July 1854 – 21 October 1929) was a leading Bulgarian liberalism, liberal politician who twice served as List of Prime Ministers of Bulgaria, Prime Minister ...

as party leader.RJ Crampton (2007) ''Bulgaria'', Oxford University Press, p454 In their first elections in

1908 Events January * January 1 – The British ''Nimrod'' Expedition led by Ernest Shackleton sets sail from New Zealand on the ''Nimrod'' for Antarctica. * January 3 – A total solar eclipse is visible in the Pacific Ocean, and is the 46 ...

the party failed to win a seat. Nohlen, D & Stöver, P (2010) ''Elections in Europe: A data handbook'', p385 The MLP again failed to win a seat in the 1911 Constitutional Assembly elections, but did win one seat in the

parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

later in the year, in which it formed local alliances with the Radoslavist Liberal Party and the

People's Liberal Party The People's Liberal Party ( bg, Народнолиберална партия, ''Narodnoliberalna partiya'', NLP) was a political party in Bulgaria. History One of the four factions to emerge from the old Liberal Party, the party was establishe ...

.Nohlen & Stöver, p378 The three parties formed the Liberal Concentration alliance for the 1913 elections, emerging as the largest faction in the National Assembly. In the elections the following year the alliance won a majority of seats, but the MLP suspended political activities during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. The party did not contest the 1919 elections, but returned to run in the 1920 elections alongside the Radoslavist Liberal Party and the Petkov faction of the People's Liberal Party. Later in the year the three parties merged to form the National Liberal Party. The party published a newspaper ''Svobodno Slovo'' (''Free Speech'') between 1904 and 1913.

References

{{Bulgarian political parties Defunct political parties in Bulgaria Political parties established in 1904 Political parties disestablished in 1920