Ferdinand Casares

Ferdinand Casares NA
Leader of the Opposition
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 February 2011
President	Cárlos Tobón
Preceded by	Cárlos Tobón
Leader of the Conservative Party
Incumbent
Assumed office 3 January 2011
Deputy	Raúl Figueroa
Preceded by	Montero Irizar
National Assemblyman for Santiarin & Freasmo
Incumbent
Assumed office 11 February 2001
Personal details
Born	Ferdinand Mario Casares (1970-09-13) 13 September 1970 Estregal, Carloso
Nationality	Carlosian
Political party	Conservative Party (1993–present)
Children	3
Alma mater	Mostodra Circuit University
Occupation	Politician
Profession	Accountant
Military service
Allegiance	Carloso
Branch/service	Carlosian Army
Years of service	1987–1989
Battles/wars	Bourgougian Blitz

Ferdinand Mario Casares NA (born 13 September 1970) is a Carlosian politician, accountant and Army veteran who has been Leader of the Opposition since 11 February 2011. He is also the current leader of the Conservative Party. Tobón has served as a National Assemblyman for Santiarin & Freasmo since 2001.

Casares was elected as leader of the Conservatives in 2011 to replace Montero Irizar, who, in the aftermath of the Corrective Revolution, had led the Conservative Party to its worst performance in history, winning only 122 seats and 18.6% of first preference votes in the 2010 general election. Casares immediately began efforts to reform the party and rebuild its structure after being crippled by the huge amount of defections to National Salvation in the weeks in the run-up to the election. Caesares led the Conservative Party to a partial recovery in the 2015 general election, winning 183 seats, though mainly at the expense of the embattled Socialist Republicans and Democratic Party.

Politically, Caesares has been described as a centrist and liberal conservative. He has expressed his openness to the relaxation of abortion laws and recognition of same-sex civil partnerships. He also opposes capital punishment. He has been a sharp critic of President Cárlos Tobón, and marketed himself to the electorate as the best person to unseat him from power. He describes himself as Catholic.