 Its ideology was autonomist, and it was the first conservative political party active specifically in the Valencian region.In 1977, after Franco's dictatorship, Valencia began to recover its autonomy with the creation of the Council of the Valencian Country ("Consell del País Valencià"), and in 1982 a Statute of Autonomy created several self-government institutions under the Generalitat Valenciana and established Valencian as a co-official language.The first democratically elected President, Joan Lerma, took office in 1982 as part of the transition to autonomy.