Union, Progress and Democracy
Encyclopedia
Union, Progress and Democracy is a Spanish
political party founded in September 2007.
It is a progressivist party, between social democracy and social liberalism. One of its goals is to build a federal system for Spain and European Union, with clear responsibilities distributed among local governments, autonomous regions, Spain and the Union. The party is against any kind of nationalism, and claims that citizenship must be the main issue and not identitarisms based on religions, languages or place of birth.
UPyD contested for the first time in an election for the 2008 general election
, held on 9 March. It received 303,246 votes, or 1.2% of the national total and one seat in the Congress of Deputies. for party co-founder Rosa Díez
, thus becoming the newest party with national representation in Spain.
The leading core of this political party comes from the Basque Autonomous Community, with roots in the anti-ETA
civic associations, yet it addresses a Spain-wide audience. Philosopher Fernando Savater
, was one of the main promoters of the party. Other important promoters included Rosa Díez
(formerly a leading figure in the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
, PSOE), university professor Mikel Buesa, philosopher Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
or writer Álvaro Pombo
.
By the end of 2008, UPyD claimed to have more than 9,000 registered members.
with the aim of debating the necessity and possibility of creating a new political party
that would oppose both the main parties at national level: the People's Party
(PP) and the PSOE. At the meeting, most of those present were Basques, many of whom have long experience in political, union
and civic
organizations, in many cases coming from a background of left-wing politics
, but also from liberal
and civic
backgrounds. After that meeting, to create a broadly based social and political project, the first step was to create an association, Plataforma Pro, which united those who considered necessary to form a new political party
at national level, for all Spaniards, whose aim would be to put forward new political proposals of interest to people from across the democratic political spectrum
. The initial motives quoted were:
Among the members or supporters of Plataforma Pro were the philosopher Fernando Savater
, the spokesman of ¡Basta Ya!
, Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
(who was the coordinator of the same group) and the former socialist Member of the European Parliament
Rosa Díez
. The latter resigned from PSOE membership and her position as MEP in August 2007 in order to become involved with the UPyD project.
Other groups that showed their support for the Platform included the association Citizens of Catalonia, most notably Albert Boadella
, Arcadi Espada and Xavier Pericay, and the association ¡Basta Ya!
which had been a major influence on the new movement.
In September 2007, the then president of the Forum Ermua Mikel Buesa announced their intention to participate in the political party arising from the Plataforma Pro (later on, he resigned in 2009 due to discrepancies with Rosa Diez).
Finally, at a public meeting on 29 September 2007 in the Auditorium of the Casa de Campo
of Madrid
the new party, Union Progress and Democracy, was formed. Those involved in the formation of the new party included the Catalan dramatist Albert Boadella
, the Basque philosopher Fernando Savater
, the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa
and Rosa Díez
. Also present were the journalist Arcadi Espada, the anthropologist Teresa Giménez Barbat and the anthropologist Felix Perez Romera (the three prominent members of Citizens of Catalonia), the historian Antonio Elorza, painter Agustín Ibarrola
and the ex-leader of the Forum of Ermua Mikel Buesa, the philosopher Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
, the deputies of Citizens Albert Rivera
and Antonio Robles, the Peruvian writer Fernando Iwasaki, the former Secretary General of the UGT
Nicolas Redondo and the Basque MP
of the People's Party
Fernando Maura. The latter joined the new grouping on the 6th of November 2007, forming part of its advisory council. Later on, writer Alvaro Pombo
also expressed support for UPyD and went to run a candidature for this party.
or right
. UPyD prefers to define itself as a progressive
party, beyond other ideological labels.
As they declare themselves in the opening paragraphs of their initial manifesto:
Their main ideological focus, however, is their opposition to the many different regional nationalist movements in Spain. They argue that the Autonomous Communities system, one of the most decentralized in Europe, if not the most, has emptied the State's own competences in a way that individual rights can no longer be assured consistently throughout Spain due to sometimes greatly diverging regional laws. UPyD stresses the idea of Spain as a nation-state, and its unity as such, regaining prerogatives for the State in front regions.
The party is included in which it has come to be called in spanish
as transversalismo (transversalism), known in english
as Left–right. Is a cross-sectional party, a party that tries to include concepts and ideas of both political axes, making the party probably best categorized as social liberalism
.
Their main proposals include:
, Mikel Buesa and Fernando Savater
in which it denounced the treatment of "evident inequality" received on the part of the Spanish banks denying the asked for credits to them and remembered the debts of the other political parties with the banks, in addition to the great pardons made to these formations in the last years. In this context, they explained that until that moment UPyD's activity was funded thanks to membership fees and small donations but they recognized that the party "could not continue this way" and face with these resources an electoral campaign. For that reason, the leadership decided to start a funding system of personal loans, to which they hope that citizens will commit themselves. This system consists in selling personal loans by the value of 200, 500 and 1000 euro
s to fund the party's electoral campaign for the 2008 general elections after the refusal received from large financial organizations to grant them credit. These bonds, of which one first expandable emission of three million euros to five million was be made, could be purchased in the party offices, via the Internet and via a free phone number. In addition, the party committed to report the amount of the loans obtained and the state of its accounts. The party intends to return the money to the citizens after the elections, thanks to the institutional funding received by parties with parliamentary representation.
held by was Rosa Diez
, the national spokesman. She was elected in Madrid Province
, with 3.74% of the vote. Other prominent candidates were the writer Álvaro Pombo
for the Senate or Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
, both of whom failed to win seats.
In 2009, the party gained representation in two other elections, the European Parliamentary election
and the Basque Regional Elections
. Their MEP, Francisco Sosa-Wagner sat in the non-aligned group in the European parliament. In the Basque elections, Gorka Maneiro was elected to represent Alava
.
In 2011, Luis de Velasco
and 7 other UPyD members were elected to the Madrid Assembly
with UPyD becoming the fourth largest party. In the local elections
, the party won seats in cities such as Madrid
, Burgos
, Avila
, Granada
, Alicante
and Murcia
.
In the 2011 Spanish General Election, UPyD received the fourth largest number of votes, polling 1,140,242. They won five seats, four of them in Madrid: Rosa Díez
, Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
, Álvaro Anchuelo and Irene Lozano, and one more for Valencia Province
, the actor Toni Cantó.
of tight control he claimed that a group of persons in the party had attempted to impose. Later, one hundred UPyD critics (among whom were four founders) left the party. They felt "tired and disappointed" with the "authoritarian" Rosa Díez and "lack of internal democracy". By early 2010, the party had lost 40% of its membership in Catalonia, considering the political party to be a fraud.
In the 2009 European election the UPD was the third most voted for party in 32 provincial capitals.
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
political party founded in September 2007.
It is a progressivist party, between social democracy and social liberalism. One of its goals is to build a federal system for Spain and European Union, with clear responsibilities distributed among local governments, autonomous regions, Spain and the Union. The party is against any kind of nationalism, and claims that citizenship must be the main issue and not identitarisms based on religions, languages or place of birth.
UPyD contested for the first time in an election for the 2008 general election
Spanish general election, 2008
Legislative elections for the Spanish Cortes Generales were held on March 9, 2008. The elections were for 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies, and the 208 directly elected seats in the upper house, the Senate, determining the Prime Minister of Spain...
, held on 9 March. It received 303,246 votes, or 1.2% of the national total and one seat in the Congress of Deputies. for party co-founder Rosa Díez
Rosa Díez
Rosa Díez González is a Spanish politician. She is a former Member of the European Parliament for the PSOE , integrated in the Party of European Socialists.In 2007 she gave up her seat and left the PSOE due to strong disagreement on what she perceived to be the...
, thus becoming the newest party with national representation in Spain.
The leading core of this political party comes from the Basque Autonomous Community, with roots in the anti-ETA
ETA
ETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
civic associations, yet it addresses a Spain-wide audience. Philosopher Fernando Savater
Fernando Savater
Fernando Fernández-Savater Martín is one of Spain's most popular living philosophers, as well as an essayist and celebrated author....
, was one of the main promoters of the party. Other important promoters included Rosa Díez
Rosa Díez
Rosa Díez González is a Spanish politician. She is a former Member of the European Parliament for the PSOE , integrated in the Party of European Socialists.In 2007 she gave up her seat and left the PSOE due to strong disagreement on what she perceived to be the...
(formerly a leading figure in the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
Spanish Socialist Workers' Party
The Spanish Socialist Workers' Party is a social-democratic political party in Spain. Its political position is Centre-left. The PSOE is the former ruling party of Spain, until beaten in the elections of November 2011 and the second oldest, exceeded only by the Partido Carlista, founded in...
, PSOE), university professor Mikel Buesa, philosopher Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
Carlos Martínez Gorriarán is a Spanish scholar, born in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain. He is one of the founding members and spokespersons for the ¡Basta Ya! association and head of the Plataforma Pro from which the Union, Progress and Democracy party emerged in September 2007...
or writer Álvaro Pombo
Álvaro Pombo
Álvaro Pombo García de los Ríos is a Spanish poet, novelist, and activist.Born in Santander, Cantabria, he studied at the Complutense University of Madrid and received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London, where he lived between 1966 and 1977...
.
By the end of 2008, UPyD claimed to have more than 9,000 registered members.
Origins
On Saturday 19 May 2007, 45 people met in San SebastiánSan Sebastián
Donostia-San Sebastián is a city and municipality located in the north of Spain, in the coast of the Bay of Biscay and 20 km away from the French border. The city is the capital of Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous community of the Basque Country. The municipality’s population is 186,122 , and its...
with the aim of debating the necessity and possibility of creating a new political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
that would oppose both the main parties at national level: the People's Party
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
(PP) and the PSOE. At the meeting, most of those present were Basques, many of whom have long experience in political, union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
and civic
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
organizations, in many cases coming from a background of left-wing politics
Left-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
, but also from liberal
Liberalism
Liberalism is the belief in the importance of liberty and equal rights. Liberals espouse a wide array of views depending on their understanding of these principles, but generally, liberals support ideas such as constitutionalism, liberal democracy, free and fair elections, human rights,...
and civic
Activism
Activism consists of intentional efforts to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. Activism can take a wide range of forms from writing letters to newspapers or politicians, political campaigning, economic activism such as boycotts or preferentially patronizing...
backgrounds. After that meeting, to create a broadly based social and political project, the first step was to create an association, Plataforma Pro, which united those who considered necessary to form a new political party
Political party
A political party is a political organization that typically seeks to influence government policy, usually by nominating their own candidates and trying to seat them in political office. Parties participate in electoral campaigns, educational outreach or protest actions...
at national level, for all Spaniards, whose aim would be to put forward new political proposals of interest to people from across the democratic political spectrum
Political spectrum
A political spectrum is a way of modeling different political positions by placing them upon one or more geometric axes symbolizing independent political dimensions....
. The initial motives quoted were:
- The fight against ETA and any type of politically motivated violence;
- Regeneration of Spanish democracyDemocracyDemocracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
; - Opposition to compulsory nationalismNationalismNationalism is a political ideology that involves a strong identification of a group of individuals with a political entity defined in national terms, i.e. a nation. In the 'modernist' image of the nation, it is nationalism that creates national identity. There are various definitions for what...
(referring to the peripheral nationalist and regionalist movements); - The reform of the Spanish Constitution of 1978 to reinforce citizen libertiesCivil libertiesCivil liberties are rights and freedoms that provide an individual specific rights such as the freedom from slavery and forced labour, freedom from torture and death, the right to liberty and security, right to a fair trial, the right to defend one's self, the right to own and bear arms, the right...
and equalityEquality before the lawEquality before the law or equality under the law or legal egalitarianism is the principle under which each individual is subject to the same laws....
, independent of the regional origins of each citizen.
Among the members or supporters of Plataforma Pro were the philosopher Fernando Savater
Fernando Savater
Fernando Fernández-Savater Martín is one of Spain's most popular living philosophers, as well as an essayist and celebrated author....
, the spokesman of ¡Basta Ya!
¡Basta Ya!
¡Basta Ya! is a Spanish grassroots organization uniting individuals of various political positions against terrorism, notably ETA, and against the proposal for a new Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country released by the government of President Juan José Ibarretxe...
, Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
Carlos Martínez Gorriarán is a Spanish scholar, born in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain. He is one of the founding members and spokespersons for the ¡Basta Ya! association and head of the Plataforma Pro from which the Union, Progress and Democracy party emerged in September 2007...
(who was the coordinator of the same group) and the former socialist Member of the European Parliament
Member of the European Parliament
A Member of the European Parliament is a person who has been elected to the European Parliament. The name of MEPs differ in different languages, with terms such as europarliamentarian or eurodeputy being common in Romance language-speaking areas.When the European Parliament was first established,...
Rosa Díez
Rosa Díez
Rosa Díez González is a Spanish politician. She is a former Member of the European Parliament for the PSOE , integrated in the Party of European Socialists.In 2007 she gave up her seat and left the PSOE due to strong disagreement on what she perceived to be the...
. The latter resigned from PSOE membership and her position as MEP in August 2007 in order to become involved with the UPyD project.
Other groups that showed their support for the Platform included the association Citizens of Catalonia, most notably Albert Boadella
Albert Boadella
Albert Boadella Oncins is a Spanish actor and director, one of the founders of the well-known theatre company Els Joglars.- References :...
, Arcadi Espada and Xavier Pericay, and the association ¡Basta Ya!
¡Basta Ya!
¡Basta Ya! is a Spanish grassroots organization uniting individuals of various political positions against terrorism, notably ETA, and against the proposal for a new Statute of Autonomy of the Basque Country released by the government of President Juan José Ibarretxe...
which had been a major influence on the new movement.
In September 2007, the then president of the Forum Ermua Mikel Buesa announced their intention to participate in the political party arising from the Plataforma Pro (later on, he resigned in 2009 due to discrepancies with Rosa Diez).
Finally, at a public meeting on 29 September 2007 in the Auditorium of the Casa de Campo
Casa de Campo
The Casa de Campo is the largest urban park situated west of central Madrid, . It was formerly a royal hunting estate. Its area is more than ....
of Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
the new party, Union Progress and Democracy, was formed. Those involved in the formation of the new party included the Catalan dramatist Albert Boadella
Albert Boadella
Albert Boadella Oncins is a Spanish actor and director, one of the founders of the well-known theatre company Els Joglars.- References :...
, the Basque philosopher Fernando Savater
Fernando Savater
Fernando Fernández-Savater Martín is one of Spain's most popular living philosophers, as well as an essayist and celebrated author....
, the Peruvian writer Mario Vargas Llosa
Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquis of Vargas Llosa is a Peruvian-Spanish writer, politician, journalist, essayist, and Nobel Prize laureate. Vargas Llosa is one of Latin America's most significant novelists and essayists, and one of the leading authors of his generation...
and Rosa Díez
Rosa Díez
Rosa Díez González is a Spanish politician. She is a former Member of the European Parliament for the PSOE , integrated in the Party of European Socialists.In 2007 she gave up her seat and left the PSOE due to strong disagreement on what she perceived to be the...
. Also present were the journalist Arcadi Espada, the anthropologist Teresa Giménez Barbat and the anthropologist Felix Perez Romera (the three prominent members of Citizens of Catalonia), the historian Antonio Elorza, painter Agustín Ibarrola
Agustín Ibarrola
Agustín Ibarrola is a Spanish Basque painter and sculptor.He was born in Basauri , Spain.In 1948, the Delegation of Biscay and the city council of Bilbao granted him a scholarship to study in Madrid, where he lived until 1955....
and the ex-leader of the Forum of Ermua Mikel Buesa, the philosopher Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
Carlos Martínez Gorriarán is a Spanish scholar, born in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain. He is one of the founding members and spokespersons for the ¡Basta Ya! association and head of the Plataforma Pro from which the Union, Progress and Democracy party emerged in September 2007...
, the deputies of Citizens Albert Rivera
Albert Rivera
Albert Rivera Díaz is a Spanish lawyer and politician of Catalan and Andalusian ancestry. He is currently the leader of the Citizens' Party., after having been a member of the conservative People's Party from 2002 to 2006. Albert Rivera quit PP just three months before running for elections with...
and Antonio Robles, the Peruvian writer Fernando Iwasaki, the former Secretary General of the UGT
Unión General de Trabajadores
The Unión General de Trabajadores is a major Spanish trade union, historically affiliated with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party .-History:...
Nicolas Redondo and the Basque MP
Basque Parliament
The Basque Parliament is the legislative body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain and the elected assembly to which the Basque Government is responsible....
of the People's Party
People's Party (Spain)
The People's Party is a conservative political party in Spain.The People's Party was a re-foundation in 1989 of the People's Alliance , a party led and founded by Manuel Fraga Iribarne, a former Minister of Tourism during Francisco Franco's dictatorship...
Fernando Maura. The latter joined the new grouping on the 6th of November 2007, forming part of its advisory council. Later on, writer Alvaro Pombo
Álvaro Pombo
Álvaro Pombo García de los Ríos is a Spanish poet, novelist, and activist.Born in Santander, Cantabria, he studied at the Complutense University of Madrid and received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London, where he lived between 1966 and 1977...
also expressed support for UPyD and went to run a candidature for this party.
Ideology
Ideologically, UPD does not define itself as either leftLeft-wing politics
In politics, Left, left-wing and leftist generally refer to support for social change to create a more egalitarian society...
or right
Right-wing politics
In politics, Right, right-wing and rightist generally refer to support for a hierarchical society justified on the basis of an appeal to natural law or tradition. To varying degrees, the Right rejects the egalitarian objectives of left-wing politics, claiming that the imposition of equality is...
. UPyD prefers to define itself as a progressive
Progressivism
Progressivism is an umbrella term for a political ideology advocating or favoring social, political, and economic reform or changes. Progressivism is often viewed by some conservatives, constitutionalists, and libertarians to be in opposition to conservative or reactionary ideologies.The...
party, beyond other ideological labels.
As they declare themselves in the opening paragraphs of their initial manifesto:
Their main ideological focus, however, is their opposition to the many different regional nationalist movements in Spain. They argue that the Autonomous Communities system, one of the most decentralized in Europe, if not the most, has emptied the State's own competences in a way that individual rights can no longer be assured consistently throughout Spain due to sometimes greatly diverging regional laws. UPyD stresses the idea of Spain as a nation-state, and its unity as such, regaining prerogatives for the State in front regions.
The party is included in which it has come to be called in spanish
Spanish language
Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
as transversalismo (transversalism), known in english
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
as Left–right. Is a cross-sectional party, a party that tries to include concepts and ideas of both political axes, making the party probably best categorized as social liberalism
Social liberalism
Social liberalism is the belief that liberalism should include social justice. It differs from classical liberalism in that it believes the legitimate role of the state includes addressing economic and social issues such as unemployment, health care, and education while simultaneously expanding...
.
Their main proposals include:
- Reform of the Spanish Constitution of 1978Spanish Constitution of 1978-Structure of the State:The Constitution recognizes the existence of nationalities and regions . Preliminary Title As a result, Spain is now composed entirely of 17 Autonomous Communities and two autonomous cities with varying degrees of autonomy, to the extent that, even though the Constitution...
, being centred in three scopes:- Conclusion of the autonomic modelAutonomous communities of SpainAn autonomous community In other languages of Spain:*Catalan/Valencian .*Galician .*Basque . The second article of the constitution recognizes the rights of "nationalities and regions" to self-government and declares the "indissoluble unity of the Spanish nation".Political power in Spain is...
, clearly defining the functions and responsibilities of both the central state and the autonomous communities, making clear which functions are non delegable to the Autonomous Communities or Municipalities. To this the elimination of the "historical rights" of certain independent communities is added. - Improvement and individual reinforcement of rights and obligations, defining them as strictly equal for all the citizens of the country, without territorial, linguistic, ideological or religious inequalities.
- Improvement of the separation of powersSeparation of powersThe separation of powers, often imprecisely used interchangeably with the trias politica principle, is a model for the governance of a state. The model was first developed in ancient Greece and came into widespread use by the Roman Republic as part of the unmodified Constitution of the Roman Republic...
, reinforcing the autonomy of the judicial power with respect to the executiveExecutive PowerExecutive Power is Vince Flynn's fifth novel, and the fourth to feature Mitch Rapp, an American agent that works for the CIA as an operative for a covert counter terrorism unit called the "Orion Team."-Plot summary:...
and the legislative, consolidating the unity of the judicial system in all the country, and looking for ways to guarantee the independence and professionalism of the Courts and Regulating Organs of economic character, eliminating their dependence on the executive authority.
- Conclusion of the autonomic model
- Enforcing SecularismSecularismSecularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
. - Reforming the electoral law, reviewing the electoral districts and the distribution of seats, that in their opinion is biased towards the two largest national parties (PP, PSOE) on the one side and the regional nationalists on the other (in this regard, if the Spanish general election of 2008 would have been held on a single national constituency, rather than using the current province-based constituencies system (fifty provinces plus Ceuta and Melilla), UPyD would have obtained 4 MPs instead of 1).
- Reinforcing and promoting the quality of public education, promoting secularismSecularismSecularism is the principle of separation between government institutions and the persons mandated to represent the State from religious institutions and religious dignitaries...
, fighting fanaticismFanaticismFanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious or political cause or in some cases sports, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby...
, and promoting scientific research as well as defending by law the possibility of being able to study in SpanishSpanish languageSpanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...
throughout Spain, and its prevalence as the common language of individuals; although recognising, protecting and using the languages used in some regions to guarantee bilingualism where it exists. - Measures of democratic regeneration, that make citizens closer to their political representatives, for example the possibility of introducing an electoral system of open listOpen listOpen list describes any variant of party-list proportional representation where voters have at least some influence on the order in which a party's candidates are elected...
s, the direct election of the main individual positions (autonomic and national heads of government, mayorship), limitation of mandates, and incompatibilities between the exercise of public office and private businesses. As well as measures that prevent coalitions that distort electoral results, and a more transparent financing of political parties and improving their independence of the great economic powers. - Reinforcing of anti terrorist mesures, namely emphasizing the need to eliminate ETAETAETA , an acronym for Euskadi Ta Askatasuna is an armed Basque nationalist and separatist organization. The group was founded in 1959 and has since evolved from a group promoting traditional Basque culture to a paramilitary group with the goal of gaining independence for the Greater Basque Country...
, fighting their acts of violence, prosecuting their financing and preventing their political and ideological justification. - Economic and social measures, that promote the development and the competitiveness of the Spanish economy, correcting inequalities.
- Regarding immigrationImmigration to SpainAs of 2010, there were 6.4 million foreign-born residents in Spain, corresponding to 14.0% of the total population. Of these, 4.1 million were born outside the European Union and 2.3 million were born in another EU Member State....
, UPyD argues that, instead of favoring cultural relativismCultural relativismCultural relativism is the principle that an individual human's beliefs and activities should be understood by others in terms of that individual's own culture. This principle was established as axiomatic in anthropological research by Franz Boas in the first few decades of the 20th century and...
, which could open ground to religious fundamentalism among others, the State has a role to spread a set of secular and civic values common for all the population, regardless of their origin.In Foreign Affairs, UPyD advocates for strengthening the European UnionEuropean UnionThe European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
.
Funding
Shortly before the party's creation, on 13 of December 2007 UPyD gave a press conference headed by Rosa DíezRosa Díez
Rosa Díez González is a Spanish politician. She is a former Member of the European Parliament for the PSOE , integrated in the Party of European Socialists.In 2007 she gave up her seat and left the PSOE due to strong disagreement on what she perceived to be the...
, Mikel Buesa and Fernando Savater
Fernando Savater
Fernando Fernández-Savater Martín is one of Spain's most popular living philosophers, as well as an essayist and celebrated author....
in which it denounced the treatment of "evident inequality" received on the part of the Spanish banks denying the asked for credits to them and remembered the debts of the other political parties with the banks, in addition to the great pardons made to these formations in the last years. In this context, they explained that until that moment UPyD's activity was funded thanks to membership fees and small donations but they recognized that the party "could not continue this way" and face with these resources an electoral campaign. For that reason, the leadership decided to start a funding system of personal loans, to which they hope that citizens will commit themselves. This system consists in selling personal loans by the value of 200, 500 and 1000 euro
Euro
The euro is the official currency of the eurozone: 17 of the 27 member states of the European Union. It is also the currency used by the Institutions of the European Union. The eurozone consists of Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg,...
s to fund the party's electoral campaign for the 2008 general elections after the refusal received from large financial organizations to grant them credit. These bonds, of which one first expandable emission of three million euros to five million was be made, could be purchased in the party offices, via the Internet and via a free phone number. In addition, the party committed to report the amount of the loans obtained and the state of its accounts. The party intends to return the money to the citizens after the elections, thanks to the institutional funding received by parties with parliamentary representation.
Elections
Shortly after the party´s foundation, it won a seat in the Spanish General Elections of 2008Spanish general election, 2008
Legislative elections for the Spanish Cortes Generales were held on March 9, 2008. The elections were for 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies, and the 208 directly elected seats in the upper house, the Senate, determining the Prime Minister of Spain...
held by was Rosa Diez
Rosa Díez
Rosa Díez González is a Spanish politician. She is a former Member of the European Parliament for the PSOE , integrated in the Party of European Socialists.In 2007 she gave up her seat and left the PSOE due to strong disagreement on what she perceived to be the...
, the national spokesman. She was elected in Madrid Province
Madrid (Spanish Congress Electoral District)
Madrid is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies - the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It has the largest electorate of all the 52 districts. Madrid is the largest city...
, with 3.74% of the vote. Other prominent candidates were the writer Álvaro Pombo
Álvaro Pombo
Álvaro Pombo García de los Ríos is a Spanish poet, novelist, and activist.Born in Santander, Cantabria, he studied at the Complutense University of Madrid and received a Bachelor of Arts in philosophy at Birkbeck, University of London, where he lived between 1966 and 1977...
for the Senate or Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
Carlos Martínez Gorriarán is a Spanish scholar, born in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain. He is one of the founding members and spokespersons for the ¡Basta Ya! association and head of the Plataforma Pro from which the Union, Progress and Democracy party emerged in September 2007...
, both of whom failed to win seats.
In 2009, the party gained representation in two other elections, the European Parliamentary election
European Parliament election, 2009 (Spain)
The European Parliament election of 2009 in Spain was the election of the delegation from Spain to the European Parliament in 2009.- Opinion polls :-Results:-References:...
and the Basque Regional Elections
Basque parliamentary election, 2009
Elections to the Basque regional parliament were held in the Basque Country on 1 March 2009.Shortly before the election, two parties reportedly tied to ETA – D3M and Askatasuna, "Freedom" – were banned by a court ruling from standing in the election.-Results:In stark contrast with the latest...
. Their MEP, Francisco Sosa-Wagner sat in the non-aligned group in the European parliament. In the Basque elections, Gorka Maneiro was elected to represent Alava
Álava
Álava is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the Basque Country, heir of the ancient Lord of Álava. Its capital city is Vitoria-Gasteiz which is also the capital of the autonomous community...
.
In 2011, Luis de Velasco
Luis de Velasco
Luís de Velasco was the second viceroy of New Spain during the Spanish colonization of the Americas in the mid-sixteenth century....
and 7 other UPyD members were elected to the Madrid Assembly
Madrid Assembly
The Madrid Assembly is the unicameral regional legislature of the Autonomous Community of Madrid since the approval of the Madrid Charter of Autonomy in 1983....
with UPyD becoming the fourth largest party. In the local elections
Spanish local and regional elections, 2011
Local and regional elections were held on 22 May 2011 in Spain. Local elections are held at once across all of Spain, while regional elections were held in 13 of Spain's 17 autonomous communities; Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia, and the Basque Country have different electoral cycles.The days before...
, the party won seats in cities such as Madrid
Madrid
Madrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. The population of the city is roughly 3.3 million and the entire population of the Madrid metropolitan area is calculated to be 6.271 million. It is the third largest city in the European Union, after London and Berlin, and its metropolitan...
, Burgos
Burgos
Burgos is a city of northern Spain, historic capital of Castile. It is situated at the edge of the central plateau, with about 178,966 inhabitants in the city proper and another 20,000 in its suburbs. It is the capital of the province of Burgos, in the autonomous community of Castile and León...
, Avila
Ávila
-History:In pre-Roman times , it was inhabited by the Vettones, who called it Obila and had here one of their strongest fortresses....
, Granada
Granada
Granada is a city and the capital of the province of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, Spain. Granada is located at the foot of the Sierra Nevada mountains, at the confluence of three rivers, the Beiro, the Darro and the Genil. It sits at an elevation of 738 metres above sea...
, Alicante
Alicante
Alicante or Alacant is a city in Spain, the capital of the province of Alicante and of the comarca of Alacantí, in the south of the Valencian Community. It is also a historic Mediterranean port. The population of the city of Alicante proper was 334,418, estimated , ranking as the second-largest...
and Murcia
Murcia
-History:It is widely believed that Murcia's name is derived from the Latin words of Myrtea or Murtea, meaning land of Myrtle , although it may also be a derivation of the word Murtia, which would mean Murtius Village...
.
In the 2011 Spanish General Election, UPyD received the fourth largest number of votes, polling 1,140,242. They won five seats, four of them in Madrid: Rosa Díez
Rosa Díez
Rosa Díez González is a Spanish politician. She is a former Member of the European Parliament for the PSOE , integrated in the Party of European Socialists.In 2007 she gave up her seat and left the PSOE due to strong disagreement on what she perceived to be the...
, Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
Carlos Martínez Gorriarán
Carlos Martínez Gorriarán is a Spanish scholar, born in San Sebastián, Basque Country, Spain. He is one of the founding members and spokespersons for the ¡Basta Ya! association and head of the Plataforma Pro from which the Union, Progress and Democracy party emerged in September 2007...
, Álvaro Anchuelo and Irene Lozano, and one more for Valencia Province
Valencia (Spanish Congress Electoral District)
Valencia is one of the 52 electoral districts used for the Spanish Congress of Deputies—the lower chamber of the Spanish Parliament, the Cortes Generales. It is the third largest district in Congress in terms of the numbers of deputies elected, as it elects sixteen deputies out of the total...
, the actor Toni Cantó.
Criticism
A party founder, Mikel Buesa, denounced the authoritarianismAuthoritarianism
Authoritarianism is a form of social organization characterized by submission to authority. It is usually opposed to individualism and democracy...
of tight control he claimed that a group of persons in the party had attempted to impose. Later, one hundred UPyD critics (among whom were four founders) left the party. They felt "tired and disappointed" with the "authoritarian" Rosa Díez and "lack of internal democracy". By early 2010, the party had lost 40% of its membership in Catalonia, considering the political party to be a fraud.
Electoral performances
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| 2008 | Spanish general election Spanish general election, 2008 Legislative elections for the Spanish Cortes Generales were held on March 9, 2008. The elections were for 350 seats in the Congress of Deputies, and the 208 directly elected seats in the upper house, the Senate, determining the Prime Minister of Spain... |
306,078 | 1.19 | 1 | Rosa Díez González Rosa Díez Rosa Díez González is a Spanish politician. She is a former Member of the European Parliament for the PSOE , integrated in the Party of European Socialists.In 2007 she gave up her seat and left the PSOE due to strong disagreement on what she perceived to be the... |
| 2008 | Andalusian parliamentary election | 27,261 | 0.61 | - | - |
| 2009 | Basque parliamentary election Basque parliamentary election, 2009 Elections to the Basque regional parliament were held in the Basque Country on 1 March 2009.Shortly before the election, two parties reportedly tied to ETA – D3M and Askatasuna, "Freedom" – were banned by a court ruling from standing in the election.-Results:In stark contrast with the latest... |
22,002 | 2.14 | 1 | Gorka Maneiro Labayen |
| 2009 | Galician parliamentary election Galician parliamentary election, 2009 The Galician parliamentary election of 2009 was held on Sunday, 1 March 2009 to elect members to the Galician Parliament.The election saw the People's Party of Galicia retake control of the parliament from the coalition of the Socialists and the Galician Nationalist Bloc, with a majority of 1 seat... |
23,445 | 1.45 | - | - |
| 2009 | European Parliament election European Parliament election, 2009 (Spain) The European Parliament election of 2009 in Spain was the election of the delegation from Spain to the European Parliament in 2009.- Opinion polls :-Results:-References:... |
449,499 | 2.81 | 1 | Francisco Sosa Wagner |
| 2010 | Catalonian parliamentary election Catalonian parliamentary election, 2010 Elections to fill 135 seats of the Parliament of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia, Spain, were held on Sunday, 28 November 2010.-Electoral process:-Candidatures with current parliamentary representation:... |
5,293 | 0.17 | - | Antonio Robles Almeida |
| 2011 | Spanish local elections Spanish local and regional elections, 2011 Local and regional elections were held on 22 May 2011 in Spain. Local elections are held at once across all of Spain, while regional elections were held in 13 of Spain's 17 autonomous communities; Andalusia, Catalonia, Galicia, and the Basque Country have different electoral cycles.The days before... |
465,162 | 2.06 | 152 | - |
| 2011 | Elections to the Madrid Assembly Elections to the Madrid Assembly, 2011 The 2011 elections to the Madrid Assembly were the ninth elections to the Madrid Assembly, the unicameral regional legislature of the Spanish autonomous community of Madrid. The elections were held on 22 May 2011 to elect the 129 members of the Assembly, an increase of nine members compared to the... |
189,055 | 6.32 | 8 | Luis de Velasco Rami |
| 2011 | Spanish general election | 1,140,242 | 4.69 | 5 | Rosa Díez González Rosa Díez Rosa Díez González is a Spanish politician. She is a former Member of the European Parliament for the PSOE , integrated in the Party of European Socialists.In 2007 she gave up her seat and left the PSOE due to strong disagreement on what she perceived to be the... |
In the 2009 European election the UPD was the third most voted for party in 32 provincial capitals.
External links
- Unión, Progreso y Democracia - Official homepage (Spanish)