At the party’s New Year’s reception on Monday evening, the leader of the Flemish liberal party Frédéric De Gucht announced that the party was changing its name from Open VLD to Anders. Anders is the Dutch word for different. Whether becoming “Different” will make any difference to the party’s flagging fortunes remains to be seen.
When he announced the name change Frédéric De Gucht said “We are going to do politics differently. It's time to turn the page.”
Around 1,300 Flemish liberals gathered on Monday evening in the La Madeleine Hall in the centre of Brussels for the party's New Year's reception. Somewhat unexpectedly the party’s leader Frédéric De Gucht announced a new name for the party that until then had been known as Open VLD. Previously there had been talk of a name change in the spring.
Mr De Gucht said that the New Year marks a new beginning for the party and that it is time to turn the page. “We are in politics to change things. This is more than a new name: we are going to do politics differently. We are starting from scratch and without fear. There are no taboos, no dogmas.”
The hope is that the name change and new policy ideas will breath new life into Flemish liberal party following its crushing defeat in the 2024 elections and a string of poor opinion poll results. Mr De Gucht’s stated aim is to get the party back into double figures by the next federal, regional and European elections in 2029.
The Flemish liberal leader says that the party's ambition must be to believe in people's potential, to opt for a government that does not interfere too much with people's lives and to believe that entrepreneurship makes the world a better place. Mr De Gucht says that these principles as the three Os: “Ontplooien, ontvetten en ondernemen” (Develop, streamline and enterprise).
It had been expected that Open VLD would have chosen a name such as “The liberals”, “Freedom” or “Blue”, words that that one would instantly associate with a liberal party.
The choice of “Anders” (Different), a name that could be used for any political party, association or pressure group, is a bold one. Since the party changed its name from PVV (Party for Freedom and Progress) to VLD (Flemish Liberals and Democrats) in 1992, the party has had the word liberal in its name.