The Democratic Pact for Catalonia ( ca, Pacte Democràtic per Catalunya, PDC or PDpC) was a

Catalan Catalan may refer to: Catalonia From, or related to Catalonia: * Catalan language, a Romance language * Catalans, an ethnic group formed by the people from, or with origins in, Northern or southern Catalonia Places * 13178 Catalan, asteroid #1 ...

electoral alliance established in May 1977 ahead of the Spanish Congress of Deputies 15 June election. It ran on a political platform emphasizing the need of approving a statute of autonomy for Catalonia. The coalition comprised members from two separate, previously established alliances:

Democratic Convergence of Catalonia The Democratic Convergence of Catalonia ( ca, Convergència Democràtica de Catalunya; , CDC), frequently shortened as Convergence ( ca, Convergència; ) was a Catalan nationalist, liberal political party in Catalonia (Spain), currently still exist ...

(CDC) and Democratic Left of Catalonia (EDC) from the Democratic Front for Catalonia ( ca, Front Democràtic per Catalunya, FDC), and the

Socialist Party of Catalonia–Regrouping Socialist Party of Catalonia–Regrouping ( ca, Partit Socialista de Catalunya–Reagrupament, PSC–R) was a political party in Catalonia, Spain. The PSC–R was founded in 1976 as a continuation of the Socialist and Democratic Regrouping of Cata ...

(PSC–R) and the National Front of Catalonia (FNC) from the Left Front ( ca, Front d'Esquerres, FdE). It obtained 514,647 votes (16.88% of the vote in Catalonia, 2.81% of the votes in Spain) and 11 deputies, of which 5 were for CDC, 4 for PSC–R and 2 for EDC. Its leader was Jordi Pujol. Shortly after the election, the coalition dissolved, as the PSC–R joined the

Catalan Federation of the PSOE Catalan Federation of the PSOE or Catalan Socialist Federation ( ca, Federació Catalana del PSOE, FSC) was a political party in Catalonia, Spain. The FSC first groups emerged between 1880 and 1882. History In 1888, the FSC promoted the creation ...

and the

Socialist Party of Catalonia–Congress Socialist Party of Catalonia–Congress ( ca, Partit Socialista de Catalunya–Congrés, PSC–C) was a political party in Catalonia, Spain. PSC–C was founded in 1976 as a continuation of Socialist Convergence of Catalonia (CSC). It also unified ...

to form the Socialists' Party of Catalonia (PSC), while CDC (into which EDC was merged in 1978) joined with Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC) to form Convergence and Union (CiU).

History

The alliance had its origins in an electoral platform formed in October 1976 by the

(PSC–R), initially attracting the interest of Democratic Left of Catalonia (EDC) and Republican Left of Catalonia (ERC), to promote a "Left Front" ahead of the upcoming legislative election in Spain, inviting parties from the centre and centre-left, such as

(CDC) or the

Socialist Convergence of Catalonia Socialist Convergence of Catalonia (in Catalan: ''Convèrgencia Socialista de Catalunya'', CSC) was a political party in Catalonia, Spain. CSC was founded in 1974 as from a split of the Socialist Movement of Catalonia (MSC). Its secretary general ...

(CSC)—the latter of which would merge with other parties and organizations into the

(PSC–C) in November that year—to join it. EDC disengaged from the platform in December 1976 and reached an electoral alliance with Jordi Pujol's CDC instead, whereas the Left Front was joined by the National Front of Catalonia (FNC) and Catalan State (EC) and formally constituted as an electoral coalition on 11 March 1977. The PSC–C rejected joining the Front, on the grounds that their two political projects "absolutely diverged, in terms of motivations and goals", exploring instead an electoral alliance with the

for the Congress of Deputies, as well as the

Agreement of the Catalans Agreement of the Catalans ( ca, Entesa dels Catalans) was a Catalan electoral alliance formed by the Socialist Party of Catalonia–Congress (PSC–C), the Catalan Socialist Federation (FSC), the Unified Socialist Party of Catalonia (PSUC) and th ...

unitary coalition for the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

. Throughout the subsequent weeks, contacts would be maintained with other parties for a possible expansion of the Front to the entire Catalan democratic and socialist left—and into a "Socialist and Democratic Bloc of Catalonia" ( ca, Bloc Socialista y Democrátic de Catalunya)—but this came at the risk of compromising the Front's internal cohesion. Amid these expansion attempts, CDC's Jordi Pujol sought to incorporate the PSC–R, ERC and Democratic Union of Catalonia (UDC) into his "Democratic Front for Catalonia" alliance with EDC in order to establish a Catalanist bloc as broader as possible. While UDC was favourable to entering a coalition with CDC, it did not want to foregone its agreement with the

Catalan Centre Catalan Centre ( ca, Centre Català) was a Spanish political party of the Catalan region born during the Spanish transition to democracy in 1976. It was part of the Union of the Centre and Christian Democracy of Catalonia (UCiDCC) in the 1977 Span ...

, the

Union of the Centre and Christian Democracy of Catalonia Union of the Centre and Christian Democracy of Catalonia ( ca, Unió del Centre i la Democràcia Cristiana de Catalunya, UCiDCC) was an electoral coalition formed in Catalonia in December 1976 to contest the Spanish Congress of Deputies election ...

(UCiDCC), and saw the proposal as absent of a larger degree of programatic concretion; EDC fully supported Pujol's proposal, whereas ERC and the PSC–R were initially only willing to consider alliances within the umbrella of their Left Front, as long as they respected their "Catalan Solidarity" proposal of post-election joint political action. By late April, chances of UDC joining the CDC–EDC "Democratic Front" vanished after the former stuck to its UCiDCC alliance with the Catalan Centre, but negotiations continued between Pujol's alliance and the parties comprising the Left Front, resulting in the breakup of the latter and in the PSC–C and the FNC joining the CDC–EDC's coalition, rebranded as the "Democratic Pact for Catalonia", for the Congress of Deputies election. whereas ERC and EC were left out from the candidacy. A preliminary agreement had also been reached with the

Social Democratic Party of Catalonia The Social Democratic Party of Catalonia ( ca, Partit Social Demòcrata de Catalunya, also ''Partit Socialdemòcrata de Catalunya'', PSDC) was a political party in Catalonia, led by Jaume Casanovas and defining itself as left liberal, that split fr ...

(PSDC), but it failed to materialize as the PSDC would attempt an alliance with the People's Party of Catalonia (PPC) and into the Union of the Democratic Centre in Catalonia (UCD).

Composition

Electoral performance

Congress of Deputies

Nationwide

Regional breakdown

References

{{reflist 1977 establishments in Spain 1978 disestablishments in Spain Defunct political party alliances in Spain Defunct political parties in Catalonia Political parties established in 1977 Political parties disestablished in 1978