The National Coalition Party (, PCN) is a

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area'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, officially the Republic of 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 by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

. Until 2011 it was known as the National Conciliation Party (, 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 Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo (2 September 1921 – 29 July 1973) was a Salvadoran politician and military officer, who was the 34th President of El Salvador, in office from 1962 to 1967. Early life and career Rivera was born in Zacatecolu ...

, 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 venue, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, Music, musical performances or Sport, sporting events. It comprises a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for specta ...

, FMLN and

Nuevas Ideas Nuevas Ideas (; abbreviated N or NI) is the current ruling political party of El Salvador. The party was founded on 25 October 2017 by Nayib Bukele, the then-mayor of San Salvador, and was registered by the Supreme Electoral Court (El Salvado ...

. At the

legislative elections A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General 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

presidential election 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 p ...

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 very differently in each of the two languages: Spanish ; Portuguese (or ). In French, the name ''José'', pronounced , ...

, won 2.7%. In the 12 March 2006

legislative election A general election is an electoral process to choose most or all members of a governing body at the same time. They are distinct from by-elections, which fill individual seats that have become vacant between general elections. General 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 National conservative parties Long stubs with short prose {{ElSalvador-party-stub