The National Coalition Party ( es, Partido de Concertación Nacional, PCN) is a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south b ...

. Until 2011 it was known as the National Conciliation Party ( es, Partido de Conciliación Nacional, PCN). It was the most powerful political party in the country during the 1960s and 1970s, and was closely associated with the Salvadoran military. Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo, a candidate of the National Conciliation Party, was elected president in 1962, and the next three presidents were also from the party. After the 1979 coup the party declined in influence but continued to exist.

History

After 2000

Today, it is considered relatively minor as compared with the three major organizations,

ARENA An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

, FMLN and Nuevas Ideas. At the

legislative elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, held on 16 March 2003, the party won 13.0% of the popular vote and 16 out of 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Its candidate in the

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of 21 March 2004,

José Rafael Machuca Zelaya José is a predominantly Spanish and Portuguese form of the given name Joseph. While spelled alike, this name is pronounced differently in each language: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , is an old vernacul ...

, won 2.7%. In the 12 March 2006

legislative election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, the party won 11.0% of the popular vote and 10 out of 84 seats, a major decline in representation, but the party is still the third largest political party in El Salvador. At the January 18, 2009 legislative elections the party won 11 seats. With no party holding a majority, it can be seen as holding the balance of power. However, it usually sides with the conservative ARENA party. While the party was technically to be disbanded after the 2004 election, in which its candidate did not gather the necessary 3% of the vote, it was allowed to hold on to its registration by decree; this decree was declared unconstitutional on 30 April 2011, and the party was thus disbanded. The party was de facto re-established, registering with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal as the ''National Coalition'' ('Concertación Nacional', CN) in September 2011. After one year, it added the word 'Partido' ("party") to its full name, which allowed it to again use the traditional acronym PCN. Since 2018, the party has 9 out of 84 congressmen and 25 out of 262 mayorship offices.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Legislative Assembly elections

References

External links

Website of the party
Political parties in El Salvador Political parties established in 1961 1961 establishments in El Salvador Parties of one-party systems {{ElSalvador-party-stub