Prego, the youth wing of the Flemish left-liberal party Spirit, held its Fall Congress in Ghent on the 25th November. With a large majority, the General Assembly voted in favour of a motion to give the organization a new name: Jong Spirit (Young Spirit). By this decision, the young left-liberals want to express more clearly where they stand in the political spectrum. At the Congress, a resolution was presented on the topic of democracy. In addition, former Dutch MP and leader of D66 Lousewies van der Laan engaged in a fascinating discussion on the state of social-liberal parties in the Netherlands and Belgium.

Jong Spirit President Thomas Leys: “Changing our name was a tough, but necessary decision. When five years ago, a majority of the Volksuniejongeren (People’s Union Youth) chose to become part of the Spirit group, it was necessary for Prego to spread a fresh and progressive message. We have achieved that goal. Now, the challenge is mainly to give the left-liberal movement in Flanders a recognizable face. Young people with an interest for politics should know what we stand for.” The name change does not change the relation to the party. “The party president and members of parliament of Spirit can testify that the youth wing has always been very critical of the party, both internally and externally. Our autonomy does not depend on our externals, but on the attitude and positions we take.”

In that respect, Thomas Leys outlined his vision for the future of the left-liberal party in Flanders: A left-liberal party should dare to say that reality is complex, and must not be led astray by doom-mongering and defeatism. There lies the difference with others. A left-liberal party should lead the debates, and not be led by special interests. A left-liberal should think about its positions, but also think again about the solutions it proposes. A left-liberal party should take on the confrontation with conservative forces, wherever they may be. Left-liberals should never be seduced by the appeal of populists from the left or right.” He called upon Spirit to focus on future-oriented topics such as education, sustainable development and the knowledge economy.

The presence of Lousewies van der Laan (D66) was a highlight for the Congress. She gave a clear-cut analysis of the Dutch parliamentary elections and tried to explain the success and failure of the different parties. According to her, the parties that live on fear have won. Most of these parties are also anti-European. The traditional Labor Party PvdA and the liberal VVD were too hazy in their positions or had to deal with internal disagreements. Van der Laan was also critical of her own party. She expected D66 to take a period of thorough introspection. The Dutch social-liberals tend to suffer from a lack of credibility. According to van der Laan, this should become a thing of the past and the party should finally start to work on establishing a true social-liberal party, if necessary in co-operation with others.