Concertación
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Coalition of Parties for Democracy Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia | |
---|---|
Santiago de Chile | |
Political position | Majority: Centre-left[1][2][3] |
The Concertación, officially the Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia (Spanish pronunciation:
History
In 1987
The parties and leaders that made the first Party Presidents' Council were:[4]
Party | Office | Leader | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Christian Democratic (PDC) | President | Patricio Aylwin | Designated as Concertación spokesperson. |
Genaro Arriagada | Designated as Concertación executive secretary. | ||
Socialist (PS) | Secretary General | Clodomiro Almeyda | Leader of «PS-Almeyda» wing. |
Secretary General | Juan Gutiérrez Soto | Leader of «PS-Histórico» wing.[a] | |
Secretary General | Manuel Mandujano | Leader of «PS-Mandujano» wing.[b] | |
Secretary General | Ricardo Núñez | Leader of the PS XXIV Congress. | |
Party for Democracy (PPD) | President | Ricardo Lagos | |
Popular Socialist Union (USOPO) | President | Ramón Silva | |
Radical (PR)[c] |
President | Enrique Silva Cimma | |
Democratic Socialist Radical (PRSD) | President | Luis Fernando Luengo | |
Social Democracy (SDCH)[d] | President | Amador Navarro | |
National Democratic (PADENA) | President | Wolfgang Prieur | |
Popular Unitary Action Movement (MAPU) | Secretary General | Víctor Barrueto | |
MAPU Worker Peasant (MAPU-OC) | Secretary General | Fernando Ávila Illanes | |
Christian Left (IC) | Coordinator | Luis Maira | |
Humanist (PH) | President | José Tomás Sáenz | |
Liberal-Republican Union (ULR) | President | Hugo Zepeda Barrios | |
The Greens (PLV) | President | Andrés Koryzma | [e] |
During the election campaign, the Coalition organized a colorful and cheerful campaign under the slogan La alegría ya viene ("Joy is coming"). Some Socialist factions were the last to join, because they were reluctant to work in the plebiscite, fearing election fraud by Pinochet. On 5 October 1988, the "NO" vote won with a 54% majority, and a general election was called for 1989.[citation needed]
In that year, the coalition changed their name to Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia ("Concert of Parties for Democracy") and put forward
In 1993, the coalition put forward the Christian Democrat senator Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle as a presidential candidate. Frei was the son of Eduardo Frei Montalva, the founder of the Christian Democrat Party and himself a former President of Chile (1964–1970). Gaining 57% of the votes, he defeated to the right-wing candidate, Arturo Alessandri Besa, becoming the third Christian Democrat president, and the second Coalition president.[citation needed]
In the same year, the Humanist Party, the Christian Left, and the Greens left the Coalition, accusing it of betraying the purpose for which it was born. The Social Democrat Party and the Radical Party joined together to form the
Frei's government faced two main problems: an economic crisis was raising the unemployment rate, and General Pinochet had been arrested in London. Both situations led the Coalition to fear defeat in the 1999 presidential elections.[citation needed]
In that year, the coalition had two possible candidates: the Christian Democrats' Andrés Zaldívar and the Socialists' Ricardo Lagos. Primary elections were held to decide between the two. Lagos won the vote, and went on to defeat the UDI's Joaquín Lavín in the presidential election. However, since he got a plurality as opposed to a majority of the votes, a runoff vote was held, the first in Chilean history, in which Lagos won with 51% of the votes.[citation needed]
In 2005, two candidates were again proposed: the Christian Democrats'
On
On 15 January 2006, the runoff was held. Bachelet won with nearly the 54% of the votes, becoming the first female president of Chile. She was also the fourth Coalition candidate and third Socialist to win.
Coalition presidents
- Patricio Aylwin (1990–1994)
- Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (1994–2000)
- Ricardo Lagos (2000–2006)
- Michelle Bachelet (2006–2010)
See also
Notes
- ^ It didn't sign the foundation document on 2 February 1988, but it became member of Concertación on 11 May.
- ^ It didn't sign the foundation document on 2 February 1988, but it became member of Concertación on 9 February.
- Social Democrat Radical Party
- Social Democrat Radical Party
- ^ It didn't sign the foundation document on 2 February 1988, but it became member of Concertación some weeks later.
References
- ^ Delgado, Julissa (2 February 2011), "Looking Back at the Defeat of Chile's Concertación: The Death of the Moderate Left or Its Gross Failure to Mount a Credible Presidential Candidate?", Council on Hemispheric Affairs
- ^ Huber, Evelyne; Stephens, John D. (2012), Democracy and the Left: Social Policy and Inequality in Latin America, Chicago University Press, p. 201
- ^ Teichman, Judith (2011), "Chile: Democracy in a Divided Polity", The Paradox of Democracy in Latin America, University of Toronto Press, p. 310
- ^ "1988: Concertación de Partidos por el NO". EMOL (in Spanish). Retrieved 6 October 2013.