The Alternative Democratic Pole (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

: ''Polo Democrático Alternativo'' or PDA) is a

left-wing Left-wing politics describes the range of Ideology#Political ideologies, political ideologies that support and seek to achieve social equality and egalitarianism, often in opposition to social hierarchy either as a whole or of certain social ...

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing economic and political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-mana ...

and camilist political party in Colombia, active from 2005 to the present. In 2022 it was successful at the polls and formed the Government of Colombia. It was founded as a political alliance of the

Independent Democratic Pole The Independent Democratic Pole (''Polo Democrático Independiente'') or (PDI), was a left-wing social democratic political party in Colombia. Origins Originally formed as a left-wing congressional coalition, the party itself was officially found ...

(PDI) and the Democratic Alternative (AD) in December 2005. Both parties opposed the neoliberal economic program, securitization and militarization of Colombia under then-President

Álvaro Uribe Álvaro Uribe Vélez (born 4 July 1952) is a Colombian politician who served as the 31st President of Colombia from 7 August 2002 to 7 August 2010. Uribe started his political career in his home department of Antioquia Department, Antioquia. H ...

. Subsequently, it was the only parliamentary party to declare opposition to the government of

Juan Manuel Santos Juan Manuel Santos Calderón (; born 10 August 1951) is a Colombian politician who was the President of Colombia from 2010 to 2018. He was the sole recipient of the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize. An economist by training and a journalist by trade, S ...

, and then joined the opposition against the government of

Ivan Duque Ivan () is a Slavic languages, Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek language, Greek name (English: John (given name), John) from Hebrew language, Hebrew meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Sla ...

. As of 2009, a considerable number of PDA politicians were still former guerrilla fighters who gave up armed struggle and demobilized during the late 1980s and early 1990s. And by 2012, a considerable part of PDA politicians including the former guerrilla fighters were more aligned with the

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

, the Movimiento Progresistas, or Marcha Patriótica, than the PDA.

Political development

The PDI and AD initially had their own pre-candidates for the 2006 presidential race. PDI had nominated Antonio Navarro (former leader of

M-19 M19, M.19, or M-19 most commonly refers to: * May 19th Communist Organization (M19), an American far-left female-led terrorist group active during the 1970s–1980s * 19th of April Movement (M-19), a former Colombian guerrilla movement and political ...

) and AD had nominated

Carlos Gaviria Carlos may refer to: Places ;Canada * Carlos, Alberta, a locality ;United States * Carlos, Indiana, an unincorporated community * Carlos, Maryland, a place in Allegany County * Carlos, Minnesota, a small city * Carlos, West Virginia ;Elsewher ...

. In a primary election held on March 12, 2006, Gaviria won the presidential nomination of the PDA. In the simultaneous legislative elections of 2006, the party won 9 out of 166 Deputies and 11 out of 100 senators. At the

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 ...

of 28 May 2006,

came second with 22.04% of the vote, 2,613,157 votes. This was the highest ever result for a left-wing candidate in Colombia's history. Thus, the party replaced the long-standing Liberal Party as the country's second force and main opposition party. After the election, the PDA was successful in gaining the support of groups representing the indigenous movement affiliated with the coalition. The guerrilla group National Liberation Army (ELN) (at its fourth national congress) commented favorably on the PDA's electoral performance and declared that political action should take precedence over armed struggle. PDA's own founding doctrine repudiates armed guerilla politics: "We oppose war and the exercise of violence as means of political action". Later the PDA further consolidated its organization and gained support on a local level. In October 2007, the PDA's candidate,

Samuel Moreno Rojas Samuel Gustavo Moreno Rojas (11 February 1960 – 10 February 2023) was a Colombian lawyer and politician, son of former congress of Colombia, congressman and former president of Colombia, presidential candidate María Eugenia Rojas Correa, gr ...

won the mayoral election in Colombia's capital

Bogotá Bogotá (, also , , ), officially Bogotá, Distrito Capital, abbreviated Bogotá, D.C., and formerly known as Santa Fe de Bogotá (; ) during the Spanish Imperial period and between 1991 and 2000, is the capital city, capital and largest city ...

. In the 2010 congressional election, PDA's support declined. It won 7.8% of votes and 8 of 100 seats in the Senate, and 5.9% of the vote and 4 of 164 seats in the House of Representatives, demoting it to the sixth rank among parliamentary parties. Before the election, a faction of the PDA had split off and joined the

. Clara Lopez was the party's candidate for the 2014 presidential election; she placed fourth in the first round of the election, receiving 1,958,414 votes, representing 15.23%. For the 2022 presidential and

parliamentary 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 joined forces with other left-wing and centre-left parties to form the Historic Pact for Colombia (Spanish PHxC) alliance, whose candidates

Gustavo Petro Gustavo Francisco Petro Urrego (; born 19 April 1960) is a Colombian politician who is the 34th and current president of Colombia since 2022. Upon inauguration, he became the Pink tide, first left-wing president in the History of Colombia, recen ...

and PDA member

Francia Márquez Francia Elena Márquez Mina (born 1 December 1981) is a Colombia, Colombian human-rights and environmental activist, feminist, lawyer and politician who is the 13th and current Vice President of Colombia since 2022. She was born in Yolombó (vill ...

, were victorious in the second round of the presidential election, making them the first leftists to assume the Presidency and Vice-Presidency in Colombian history. In the parliamentary elections, PHxC candidates, including PDA members, won the most votes in both the Chamber of Representatives and Senatorial elections; in both chambers seats are awarded by

proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Legislative elections

References

External links