The National Encounter Party ( es, Partido Encuentro Nacional, PEN) is a

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 ideological or p ...

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

History

The National Encounter Movement was established on 26 October 1991. Prior to the 1993 elections the National Encounter Party was established as a coalition of the

Revolutionary Febrerista Party The Revolutionary Febrerista Party ( es, Partido Revolucionario Febrerista, PRF) is a democratic socialist party of Paraguay. It was established in 1951 by Rafael Franco, President of Paraguay from the February Revolution of 1936 until his over ...

, the

Christian Democratic Party __NOTOC__ Christian democratic parties are political parties that seek to apply Christian principles to public policy. The underlying Christian democracy movement emerged in 19th-century Europe, largely under the influence of Catholic social tea ...

, Asuncion for All and a breakaway faction of the Colorado Party. The elections saw the party receive 17.9% of the national vote, becoming the country's third largest party with nine seats in the Chamber of Deputies and eight in the Senate. Together with the

Authentic Radical Liberal Party The Authentic Radical Liberal Party ( es, Partido Liberal Radical Auténtico or ''PLRA'') is a centrist liberal political party in Paraguay. The party is a full member of Liberal International. The ''liberales'', as they are known, are the le ...

(PLRA), it held a majority in the Chamber of Deputies opposed to the ruling Colorado Party. Its candidate in the presidential election, Guillermo Caballero Vargas, received 24.1% of the vote. For the 1998 general elections the party formed an alliance with the PLRA named the Democratic Alliance, with the party's President,

Carlos Filizzola Carlos Alberto Filizzola Pallarés (born 24 July 1959, in Asunción) is a Paraguayan politician. He has been a member of the Senate of Paraguay since 2003, and the President of the political party Party for a Country of Solidarity since its creati ...

, providing the alliance's Vice-Presidential candidate. However, the PEN was reduced to eight seats in the Chamber and seven in the Senate as the Colorado Party regained their majority in both houses, and the alliance's presidential candidate,

Domingo Laino Domingo may refer to: People * Domingo (name), a Spanish name and list of people with that name * Domingo (producer) (born 1970), American hip-hop producer * Saint Dominic (1170–1221), Castilian Catholic priest, founder of the Friars popularly ...

finished second with 43.9% of the vote. In 2000 Filizzola, who had been the party's President from April 1996 to March 1999, led his Movimiento Participación Amplia, Integración Solidaridad (PAIS) faction out of the party to form the Party for a Country of Solidarity. By the 2003 elections support for the party had dwindled, and it won only one seat in the Senate and none in the Chamber of Deputies, whilst its presidential candidate, Diego Abente Brun received just 0.6% of the vote. For the 2008 elections the party joined the

Patriotic Alliance for Change The Patriotic Alliance for Change ( es, Alianza Patriótica por el Cambio, APC) was a Paraguayan electoral alliance. Its candidate in the 2008 election was Fernando Lugo, who won the election. Composition Its members included:http://www.abc.co ...

, which won two seats in the Chamber.

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Chamber of Deputies elections

Senate elections

Notes

The Democratic Alliance was an alliance of the

and the National Encounter Party

References

Bibliography

* {{Authority control Political parties in Paraguay Political parties established in 1991 1991 establishments in Paraguay