Secretary-General Ramón Trías Fargas Dissolved August 1978 (1978-08) | Founded 1975 (1975) Political position CenterCenter left | |
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Ideology LiberalismCatalan nationalismFederalismSocial liberalism | ||
Democratic Left of Catalonia (in Catalan: Esquerra Democràtica de Catalunya, EDC) was a political party in Catalonia, Spain. EDC was founded in 1975, shortly after the death of Francisco Franco, by Joan Baptista Cendrós. The party had a social-liberal and federalist ideology.
History
EDC was initially known as the Catalan Liberal Party (PLC) and as such, was a member of the Liberal International. The PLC/EDC was also a part of the Coordinating Commission of Political Forces of Catalonia, the main pro-democracy opposition body of Catalonia at the time. The original ideology of the group was radical liberalism, including federalism, co-management and the nationalization of large enterprises. In April 1976 a sector led by Jaume Casanovas split from the party and founded the Social Democratic Party of Catalonia (PSDC).
In the general elections of 1977 EDC joined the Democratic Pact for Catalonia coalition to the Congreso de los Diputados, with Democratic Convergence of Catalonia, the PSC-R and the National Front of Catalonia, gaining two seats of the eleven that were won by the coalition, occupied by Ramón Trías Fargas and Maciá Alavedra, both for Barcelona.
In the Spanish Senate nomination that year, EDC joined , along with Democratic Convergence of Catalonia (CDC) and the Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC), the coalition Democracy and Catalonia, which won two seats, although none of both was for EDC.
At that time a group of militants left the party to found the Catalan Association of the Liberal Left, that in August 1978 joined the Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC). The rest of the party merged with CDC in April 1978.