The Union Party for the People ( es, Partido de la Unión por la Gente), or Party of the U ( es, Partido de la U), is a liberal political party in

Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...

. The Party is led by former president Juan Manuel Santos. It was formerly

's largest political party, in a coalition with the Liberal Party and

Radical Change Radical Change ( es, Cambio Radical; stylized with a backwards "R") is a conservative liberal political party in Colombia. After the elections on 12 March 2006, the party became one of the most important in the new Congress, receiving 20 seats ...

, until it lost 7 seats in the 2018 parliamentary elections and

presidential elections A presidential election is the election of any head of state whose official title is President. Elections by country Albania The president of Albania is elected by the Assembly of Albania who are elected by the Albanian public. Chile The pr ...

History

The Party was formed in 2005, with the objective of uniting various congressional supporters of President Alvaro Uribe, also known as Uribistas, into one political party, and to provide a political platform for the 2006 Colombian presidential elections. Most of its members defected from the Colombian Liberal Party, yet it failed to unite all Uribistas: in particular the

(Cambio Radical) refused to join. In 2006, the party took part in the

parliamentary 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 ( ...

, in which it won 30 out of 166 deputies and 20 out of 100 senators. Three years later, more than half of the congressmen from the

Radical Change Party Radical Change ( es, Cambio Radical; stylized with a backwards "R") is a conservative liberal political party in Colombia. After the elections on 12 March 2006, the party became one of the most important in the new Congress, receiving 20 seats ...

changed their standing towards the Party of the U, which resulted in it becoming Colombia's largest political party. For 2010 presidential elections, Party of the U chose former Defense Minister Juan Manuel Santos as a presidential candidate and Governor Angelino Garzon as a vice presidential candidate. Juan Manuel Santos was elected with 69% of the vote in the runoff. The Party also obtained 27 seats in the Senate in the 2010 congressional elections. In 2012, the Uribistas and former President Alvaro Uribe along with

Francisco Santos Calderon Francisco is the Spanish and Portuguese form of the masculine given name ''Franciscus''. Nicknames In Spanish, people with the name Francisco are sometimes nicknamed "Paco". San Francisco de Asís was known as ''Pater Comunitatis'' (father of ...

decided to form their own separate party, the Democratic Center. This was the result of constant intervention and criticism from former President Alvaro Uribe towards his presidential successor Juan Manuel Santos. The announcement of peace negotiations with the FARC and the

Colombian Government The Government of Colombia is a republic with separation of powers into executive, judicial and legislative branches. Its legislature has a congress, its judiciary has a supreme court, and its executive branch has a president. The citiz ...

was a partial factor that led to the fragmentation. Nevertheless, the party did not suffer high-level defections towards the Democratic Center. It came first in the Senate elections, followed in second place by the Democratic Center led by Alvaro Uribe who then became a Senator. In 2014, President Juan Manuel Santos was re-elected for a second term, in a close race against former cabinet colleague and ex-Finance Minister

Oscar Ivan Zuluaga Oscar, OSCAR, or The Oscar may refer to: People * Oscar (given name), an Irish- and English-language name also used in other languages; the article includes the names Oskar, Oskari, Oszkár, Óscar, and other forms. * Oscar (Irish mythology), ...

of the Democratic Center. The party has yet to officially announce its electoral strategy for 2018, but it is widely expected to form an electoral alliance with the Liberal Party.

Ideological platform

The Programmatic Declaration ''(Declaración Programática)'' is the official ideological platform of the party. * The Social Party of National Unity supports the development of the welfare state and recognises the family as the base of society. * The Party supports the implementation of a market-based economy. * It promotes globalisation, emphasising education, science, and technology as key pillars that can help Colombia succeed in a global market. * The Party supports decentralisation and more autonomy of the regions. Currently, the Caribbean Region is the first to begin the process to obtain more autonomy. * President Santos has also claimed that he supports Tony Blair's Third Way approach. Since 2012, the party has been an observer member of the Liberal International.Partido de la U – Colombia
, Liberal International: Observer members. Retrieved on March 2, 2013.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Legislative elections

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Social Party Of National Unity Conservative parties in Colombia Liberal parties in Colombia Political parties established in 2005