Anders
Sign in to saveAlso known as Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats, Open VLD, VLD
political party from Flanders, Belgium
Key facts
- President
- Frédéric De Gucht
- Vice president
- Eva De Bleeker
- Founded
- 1992 ; 34 years ago ( 1992 ) (VLD), 2007 ; 19 years ago ( 2007 ) (Open Vld), January 19, 2026 ; 4 months ago ( 2026-01-19 ) (Anders)
- Merger of
- VLD, LA , Vivant (Open Vld)
- Preceded by
- Party for Freedom and Progress
- Headquarters
- Melsensstraat 34 Brussels
- Membership 2018
- 60,000
- Ideology
- Liberalism ( Belgian ) Pro-Europeanism
- Political position
- Centre-right
- Regional affiliation
- Liberal Group
- European affiliation
- Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
- European parliament group
- Renew Europe
- International affiliation
- Liberal International
- Francophone counterpart
- Reformist Movement
- Germanophone counterpart
- Perspectives. Freedom. Progress.
- Colours
- Blue
- Chamber of representatives
- 7 / 87 (8%) (Flemish seats)
- Senate
- 5 / 35 (14%) (Flemish seats)
via Wikipedia infobox
~17 min read
Encyclopedic overview
Anders ( Dutch: [ˈɑndərs] , lit. ''Different''), formerly known as the Open Flemish Liberals and Democrats (Dutch: Open Vlaamse Liberalen en Democraten, [ˈoːpə(ɱ) ˈvlaːmsə libəˈraːlən ɛn deːmoːˈkraːtə(n), -lə ʔɛn -] , Open VLD), is a Flemish liberal political party in Belgium. Politically liberal, the party has been described as centre-right, and has smaller factions within the party that have conservative liberal, as well as social liberal views. The party is a member of the Liberal Group, Renew Europe, and Liberal International. On 19 January 2026, its current name was adopted.
The party was created in 1992 from the former bilingual Party for Freedom and Progress (PVV) and politicians from other parties after Belgium was reconstituted as a federal state based on language, with the French-speaking faction forming the Reformist Movement (MR) in Wallonia. The party led the government for three cabinets under Guy Verhofstadt from 1999 until March 2008. Open VLD then formed the federal government (the "Swedish government") with the New Flemish Alliance (N-VA), Christian Democratic and Flemish (CD&V), and MR.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Anders” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.