The National Democratic Party (''Partido Democrático Nacional''), known by its acronym PADENA, was a

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

an political party. This party was one of the last political movements linked to the figure of President

Carlos Ibáñez del Campo General Carlos Ibáñez del Campo (; 3 November 1877 – 28 April 1960) was a Chilean Army officer and political figure. He served as President twice, first between 1927 and 1931, and then from 1952 to 1958, serving for 10 years in office. T ...

History

It was founded in 1960 by the merger of the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

, a small faction of the Radical Doctrinal Party, part of the People's National Party (PANAPO), the Democratic Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party. It initially participated in the FRAP until Ibáñez' retirement in 1965. The party supported the presidential candidacy of

Salvador Allende Salvador Guillermo Allende Gossens (, , ; 26 June 1908 – 11 September 1973) was a Chilean physician and socialist politician who served as the 28th president of Chile from 3 November 1970 until his death on 11 September 1973. He was the fir ...

in 1964, but several parliamentarians withdrew to form the New Democratic Left, which supported Eduardo Frei. In 1970, the party supported the presidential candidacy of

Radomiro Tomic Radomiro Tomic Romero (7 May 1914 – 3 January 1992) was a Chilean politician of Croatian origin. He was one of the most prominent leaders of that country's Christian Democratic Party. Born in Calama, Tomic received his law degree from the Un ...

of 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 ...

in opposition to Allende and Popular Unity. It joined the

Confederation of Democracy The Confederation of Democracy ( es, Confederación de la Democracia, CODE) was an electoral alliance of center-right Chilean political parties formed in July 1972. Its main purpose was to unite all the opposition parties of the Popular Unity gove ...

in 1973.

Refoundation, division, and failed legalisation (1983-1999)

After the 1973 coup d'etat, PADENA entered in political recess and some of its members served in public offices during the

military dictatorship A military dictatorship is a dictatorship in which the military exerts complete or substantial control over political authority, and the dictator is often a high-ranked military officer. The reverse situation is to have civilian control of the m ...

. It was refounded in 1983, but two factions were created: one led by Luis Minchel, who opposed the dictatorship, and another led by Apolonides Parra which supported the military regime. Parra's faction in 1984 was part of the Group of Eight and later the National Democratic Agreement. In 1985, it signed the National Agreement for the Transition to Full Democracy. On 31 January 1986 the faction led by Parra was part of the ''Frente Democrático de Concordia'' (FREDECO) along with the Social Democracy Party, the

Radical Democracy Radical democracy is a type of democracy that advocates the radical extension of equality and liberty. Radical democracy is concerned with a radical extension of equality and freedom, following the idea that democracy is an unfinished, inclusive, ...

, the Social Christian Movement, the Radical Civic Union, the Social Democratic Labour Movement, the Javiera Carrera Movement and the Arturo Matte Civic Center. Padena 1988

In 1988, the faction led by Minchel supported the "No" option on the national plebiscite. However, the Parra faction disagreed with Parra and formed the Democratic Party of Chile (PADECH), which supported the "Yes" option and then dissolved and became part of National Renewal. On 2 February 1988, it signed the statement of formation of the

Concertación The Concertación, officially the Concertación de Partidos por la Democracia ( en, Coalition of Parties for Democracy), was a coalition of center-left political parties in Chile, founded in 1988. Presidential candidates under its banner won ...

, but it did not get the number of signatures required for its legalisation and was disbanded by the Electoral Service on 12 September of that year. The PADENA emblem was a rectangular white flag with navy blue trim, and in the center of this a red anvil appeared. In the 1990s, four attempts were made to legalise PADENA again. These were all unsuccessful due to the refusal of the Electoral Service. The party failed to comply with the legal requirements within the stipulated time frame: * On 28 June 1991, it was declared a party in formation, and registration was expired on 28 January 1992. * On 17 February 1994, it was declared a party in formation, and registration was expired on 24 September 1994. * On 2 October 1997, it presented to the Servel its constitution writing, however this was returned to its authors on 8 October of the same year. * On 13 October 1998, it was declared a party in formation, and registration was expired on 18 May 1999.

Presidential candidates

Presidential candidates supported by the National Democratic Party. *

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarch ...

(lost) *

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

(lost) *1988: plebiscite: "won" (lost) *

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

Patricio Aylwin Patricio Aylwin Azócar (; 26 November 1918 – 19 April 2016) was a Chilean politician from the Christian Democratic Party, lawyer, author, professor and former senator. He was the first president of Chile after dictator Augusto Pinochet, a ...

(won)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:National Democratic Party (Chile) Defunct political parties in Chile Political parties established in 1960 Political parties disestablished in 1999 1960 establishments in Chile 1999 disestablishments in Chile