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Authentic Radical Liberal Party

The Authentic Radical Liberal Party (Spanish: Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico or PLRA) is a liberal and radical political party in Paraguay. The party is a full member of Liberal International. The liberales, as they are known, are the leading opposition to the dominant conservative Colorado Party. They have taken this position since the end of the Alfredo Stroessner dictatorship in 1989. They are the political successors of the Liberal Party, which traces its history back to 10 July 1887.

Authentic Radical Liberal Party
Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico
PresidentHugo Fleitas[1]
Founded10 July 1887
Split fromLiberal Party
Radical Liberal Party
HeadquartersIturbe 936 c/ Manuel Domínguez, Asunción
Membership (2022)1,548,023[2]
IdeologyLiberalism[3]
Progressivism[4]
Political positionCentre[5][6][7] to centre-left[8]
National affiliationConcertación
International affiliationLiberal International[9]
Chamber of Deputies
22 / 80
Senate
7 / 45
Governors
2 / 17
Party flag
Website
www.plra.org.py

The party was formed by Domingo Laíno, Carmen Casco de Lara Castro, Carlos Alberto González, Miguel Ángel Martínez Yaryes, and others in 1978, in opposition to the Constitutional Amendment of 1977 which imposed no term limits to the re-election of the Paraguayan president.[10] The PLRA remained officially unrecognized from its foundation in 1978 until the overthrow of Alfredo Stroessner. During this time, PLRA activists suffered continual harassment.[11]

In the presidential elections of 2008, the party achieved victory over the Colorado Party for the first time in 61 years through a political alliance headed by leftist Fernando Lugo and composed by other left-wing political parties. At the 2008 legislative elections, the party won 26 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 14 seats in the Senate. They were approximately tied with the Colorados in the number of seats won in the Chamber of Deputies and the Senate.

Following the June 2012 impeachment of Fernando Lugo, which the PLRA spearheaded,[12] the governing alliance fell apart, and Vice-President Federico Franco took over the presidency, thus exercising the first all-PLRA government in Paraguay. The PLRA has remained in opposition since 2013. As one of Paraguay’s two traditional parties, the PLRA is notable for its lack of a clear political program, which is a reflection of its division into personalist factions, dominated by networks of national and local caudillos.[12]

Electoral history

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Presidential elections

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Election Party candidate Votes % Result
1989 Domingo Laíno 241,829 20.98% Lost  N
1993 357,164 33.20% Lost  N
1998[a] 703,379 43.88% Lost  N
2003 Julio César Franco 370,348 24.7% Lost  N
2008[b] Supported Fernando Lugo (PDC) 766,502 42.40% Elected  Y
2013[c] Efraín Alegre 889,451 39.05% Lost  N
2018[d] 1,110,464 45.08% Lost  N
2023[e] 830,842 28.25% Lost  N

Vice presidential election

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Election Party candidate Votes % Result
2000 Julio César Franco 597,431 49.6% Elected  Y

Chamber of Deputies elections

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Election Votes % Seats +/–
1989 229,329 20.2%
21 / 72
   21
1993 414,208 36.8%
33 / 80
   12
1998[a] 681,917 42.8%
35 / 80
   7
2003 379,066 25.7%
21 / 80
   14
2008 500,040 28.27%
27 / 80
   6
2013 656,301 29.25%
27 / 80
  
2018 420,821 17.74%
17 / 80
   10
2023[a] 779,282 27.46%
23 / 80
   6
  1. ^ Run as part of the National Coalition for a New Parguay.

Senate elections

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Election Votes % Seats +/–
1993 409,728 36.2%
17 / 45
   17
1998[a] 661,764 42.1%
20 / 45
   5
2003 374,854 25.4%
12 / 45
   8
2008 507,413 28.92%
14 / 45
   2
2013 588,054 26.17%
13 / 45
   1
2018 570,205 24.18%
13 / 45
  
2023 701,547 24.35%
12 / 45
   1

Notes

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a PLRA contested the 1998 elections as a member of the Democratic Alliance electoral coalition along with the National Encounter Party.

b PLRA contested the 2008 elections as a member of the Patriotic Alliance for Change electoral coalition along with the Febrerista Revolutionary Party, the National Encounter Party, the Party for a Country of Solidarity, the Christian Democratic Party, and the Progressive Democratic Party, among others.

c PLRA contested the 2013 elections as a member of the Paraguay Alegre electoral coalition along with the Progressive Democratic Party and the National Encounter Party, among others.

d PLRA contested the 2018 elections as a member of the Great Renewed National Alliance electoral coalition along with the Revolutionary Febrerista Party, the Progressive Democratic Party, and the Guasú Front, among others.

e PLRA contested the 2023 elections as a member of the Concertación electoral coalition along with the Guasú Front, the Beloved Fatherland Party, the National Encounter Party, the Hagamos Party, the Progressive Democratic Party, the Revolutionary Febrerista Party, and the Christian Democratic Party, among others.

References

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  1. ^ "Hugo Fleitas: Vamos a empezar un nuevo ciclo de reformas dentro del PLRA". ABC Color (in Spanish). Retrieved 20 October 2023.
  2. ^ "PLRA supera los 1,5 millones de afiliados - Política - ABC Color".
  3. ^ Reformas Políticas en América Latina [dead link‍]
  4. ^ PLRA abc.com [dead link‍]
  5. ^ O'Connor, Tom (6 April 2023). "This election may give China a new Latin America friend at Taiwan's expense". Newsweek. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  6. ^ Kessler, Jacob. "Taiwan in the hot seat during Paraguay presidential elections". Al Jazeera. Retrieved 11 January 2024.
  7. ^ Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Paraguay: Information on the Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico (PLRA), 1985-1991, 1 February 1992, PRY10271, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6abee2c.html [accessed 11 January 2024]
  8. ^ "SciELO - Scientific Electronic Library Online". Retrieved 24 February 2024.
  9. ^ "List of full members". Archived from the original on 25 May 2014. Retrieved 21 May 2016., Liberal International, www.liberal-international.org.
  10. ^ Silva, Tamy Amorim da (2016). Memórias sobre uma Dama Valente: Carmen de Lara Castro e a Ditadura Stronista (1967–1989) [Memories of a valiant woman: Carmen de Lara Castro and the Stronista Dictatorship (1967-1989)] (PDF) (master's degree) (in Portuguese). Florianópolis, Santa Catarina, Brazil: Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina. p. 169. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  11. ^ Nickson, Andrew (2015). Historical Dictionary of Paraguay. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. p. 461.
  12. ^ a b Nickson 2015, pp. 461.

See also

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