Democracy and Freedom

Democracy and Freedom (Catalan: Democràcia i Llibertat, DiL) was an electoral alliance in Catalonia established to contest the 2015 Spanish general election. It was formed by Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC), Democrats of Catalonia (DC) and Reagrupament (RI.cat).

Not to be confused with Democracy and Catalonia.
Democracy and Freedom
Democràcia i Llibertat
AbbreviationDiL
SpokespersonFrancesc Homs
Founded6 November 2015 (2015-11-06)
Dissolved13 May 2016 (2016-05-13)
HeadquartersC/ Còrsega, 333
08037, Barcelona[1]
Ideology
Political positionCentre-right
MembersSee list of members
Website
www.democraciaillibertat.cat

History

After the 2015 Catalan regional election had seen Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC) teaming up into the Junts pel Sí alliance, speculation arose on the future of such alliance for other electoral contests and on whether it would be maintained ahead of the upcoming 2015 Spanish general election scheduled for 20 December under a "super-creative formula".[3] On 30 October 2015, it was confirmed that they both parties would be standing in separate lists but with "shared manifestos", as ERC's refusal to accept regional presidency minister and government spokesperson Francesc Homs as the leading candidate as well as CDC's aims to control the future parliamentary group put down any prospects of a full-fledged electoral alliance.[4][5]

On 4 November, it was unveiled that CDC was in talks with Democrats of Catalonia (DC) to form a joint list for the general election.[6][7] On 6 November 2015, the alliance was made public and announced to include CDC, DC and Reagrupament (RI.cat) under the "Democracy and Freedom" label,[8] with Francesc Homs as its leading candidate.[9] The party memberships of both CDC and DC ratified the decision with a support of 84% and 78%, respectively.[10][11]

On 9 May 2016, CDC announced its intention to contest the 2016 Spanish general election on its own, choosing not to renew the alliance with DC and RI.cat, thus bringing the coalition to an end.[12][13] DC and RI.cat subsequently decided not to contest the general election, citing the failure in building up a "broad alliance" of pro-independence parties as their main reason.[14]

Composition
Party
Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC)
Democrats of Catalonia (DC)
Independence Rally (RI.cat)

Electoral performance

Nationwide
Cortes Generales
Election Congress Senate Leading candidate Status in legislature
Votes  % # Seats +/– Seats +/–
2015 567,253 2.25% 7th
8 / 350
 2[lower-alpha 1]
6 / 208
 1[lower-alpha 1] Francesc Homs New election

Regional breakdown
Election Catalonia
Congress Senate
Votes  % # Seats +/– Seats +/–
2015 567,253 15.08% 4th
8 / 47
 2[lower-alpha 1]
6 / 16
 1[lower-alpha 1]

Notes
  1. Compared to Democratic Convergence of Catalonia totals (within Convergence and Union) in the 2011 general election.

References
  1. "Avís Legal i política de privadesa". www.democraciaillibertat.cat (in Catalan). Democracy and Freedom. Archived from the original on 2016-01-26. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  2. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2015). "Spain". Parties and Elections in Europe. Archived from the original on 2 March 2016. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  3. "CDC y ERC se presentarán juntos a las elecciones generales con una fórmula "supercreativa"" (in Spanish). RTVE. Agencias. 22 October 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  4. "CDC y ERC se presentarán por separado a las generales pero compartirán parte del programa" (in Spanish). RTVE. Europa Press. 30 October 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  5. Fernández, Antonio (31 October 2015). "ERC rompe con CDC porque no acepta a Homs como líder del Grupo Catalán en Madrid". El Confidencial (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  6. "Demòcrates y CDC estudian presentarse a las elecciones en coalición y con una marca propia". infoLibre (in Spanish). 4 November 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  7. "La posible coalición entre CDC y Demòcrates se presentaría con una marca propia" (in Spanish). Barcelona: Europa Press. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  8. Masreal, Fidel (6 November 2015). "CDC concurrirá a las generales bajo el nombre de Democràcia i Llibertat". El Periódico de Catalunya (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  9. "CDC prevé presentarse a las generales con la marca 'Democràcia i Llibertat'" (in Spanish). Barcelona: Europa Press. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  10. "CDC avala presentarse en la coalición Democràcia i Llibertat para el 20D". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. Agencias. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  11. "Demòcrates celebra este sábado su congreso fundacional para ser partido de un "nuevo país"" (in Spanish). Barcelona: Europa Press. 6 November 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  12. Gisbert, Josep (9 May 2016). "17.000 militantes podrán votar en la consulta de CDC". La Vanguardia (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  13. "CDC rechaza la lista junto con Demòcrates y concurrirá sola con sus siglas". El Mundo (in Spanish). Barcelona. EFE. 6 May 2016. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  14. Escobar Martí, Marta (13 May 2016). "Demòcrates renuncia al 26-J por el rechazo de CDC". El Nacional (in Spanish). Barcelona. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
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