Vox (Spanish political party)

Vox
President Santiago Abascal
Secretary-General Iván Espinosa de los Monteros
Founded 17 December 2013[1]
Ideology Conservative liberalism
Economic liberalism
Social conservatism
Centralism[2]
Constitutionalism
Pro-Europeanism
Monarchism
Spanish nationalism
Political position Right-Wing
European affiliation European People's Party
Colours Green
Website
www.voxespana.es
Politics of Spain
Political parties
Elections

Vox (Latin for "voice") is a Spanish political party created in December 2013 by former members of the People's Party. On Thursday 16 January, VOX was launched at a press conference in Madrid.[3] The reasons for this schism seem to be the way the PP government dealt with the issue of the separatist group ETA's violence, the fiscal policy of the People's Party and the desire for a more centralized government in contrast to the current, quasi-federal political system ("State of Autonomies") instituted in 1978. They have labelled themselves as right-wing ("liberal in terms of economy and conservative in terms of moral values"), although they had been described in media as a far-right party. The first provisional chairman was the philosopher José Luis González Quirós (provisional until internal election in late 2014). Other members were Santiago Abascal, Iván Espinosa de los Monteros and José Antonio Ortega Lara (well known for having been kidnapped by ETA for more than a year).

They ran for the first time in the 2014 European parliamentary elections but failed to win a seat.[4] in part due to the head of the electoral list, a former MEP that has since left the party.

In september 2014 a democratic internal election brought Santiago Abascal, one of the founders as new president, and Iván Espinosa de los Monteros, also a founder, as secretary general. A total of 11 other members of the Comité Ejecutivo Nacional where elected, most without previous political activities as they have a backgroud of business people and scholars.

External links

References

  1. ↑ "VOX es un partido político con personalidad jurídica propia e inscrito en el Registro de partidos políticos del Ministerio del Interior el día 17 Diciembre de 2013" - Vox
  2. ↑ Madrid government meddling in Catalan vote case, say state prosecutors, El País
  3. ↑ "Nace Vox, el partido político de Santiago Abascal y Ortega Lara". Libertad Digital. 14 January 2014. Retrieved 16 March 2014.
  4. ↑ Tristeza y decepción en Vox tras los resultados de las Elecciones Europeas in libertaddigital.com (Spanish)