| Authentic Radical Liberal Party | |
| Native Name: | Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico |
| President: | Hugo Fleitas[1] |
| Foundation: | 10 July 1887 |
| Split: | Liberal Party Radical Liberal Party |
| Membership Year: | 2022 |
| Membership: | 1,548,023[2] |
| Headquarters: | Iturbe 936 c/ Manuel Domínguez, Asunción |
| Ideology: | Liberalism[3] Progressivism[4] Democratic liberalism |
| Position: | Centre[5] [6] [7] to centre-left[8] |
| National: | Concertación |
| International: | Liberal International[9] |
| Affiliation1 Title: | Regional affiliation |
| Seats1 Title: | Chamber of Deputies |
| Seats2 Title: | Senate |
| Seats3 Title: | Governors |
| Country: | Paraguay |
The Authentic Radical Liberal Party (Spanish; Castilian: 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.
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, 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.
| Election | Party candidate | Votes | % | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | Domingo Laíno | 241,829 | 20.98% | Lost |
| 1993 | 357,164 | 33.20% | Lost | |
| 1998 | 703,379 | 43.88% | Lost | |
| 2003 | Julio César Franco | 370,348 | 24.7% | Lost |
| 2008 | Supported Fernando Lugo (PDC) | 766,502 | 42.40% | Elected |
| 2013 | Efraín Alegre | 889,451 | 39.05% | Lost |
| 2018 | 1,110,464 | 45.08% | Lost | |
| 2023 | 830,842 | 28.25% | Lost |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 229,329 | 20.2% | 21 | ||
| 1993 | 414,208 | 36.8% | 12 | ||
| 1998 | 681,917 | 42.8% | 7 | ||
| 2003 | 379,066 | 25.7% | 14 | ||
| 2008 | 500,040 | 28.27% | 6 | ||
| 2013 | 656,301 | 29.25% | |||
| 2018 | 420,821 | 17.74% | 10 | ||
| 2023 | 779,282 | 27.46% | 6 |
| Election | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1993 | 409,728 | 36.2% | 17 | ||
| 1998 | 661,764 | 42.1% | 5 | ||
| 2003 | 374,854 | 25.4% | 8 | ||
| 2008 | 507,413 | 28.92% | 2 | ||
| 2013 | 588,054 | 26.17% | 1 | ||
| 2018 | 570,205 | 24.18% | |||
| 2023 | 701,547 | 24.35% | 1 |
PLRA contested the 1998 elections as a member of the Democratic Alliance electoral coalition along with the National Encounter Party.
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.
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.
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.
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.