 | This article has multiple issues. Please helpimprove it or discuss these issues on thetalk page.(Learn how and when to remove these messages) (Learn how and when to remove this message)
|
TheChristian Democratic Party (Spanish:Partido Demócrata Cristiano, PDC) is aChristian democraticpolitical party inChile. There have been three Christian Democrat presidents in the past,Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle,Patricio Aylwin, andEduardo Frei Montalva.
Customarily, the PDC backs specific initiatives in an effort to bridgesocialism andlaissez-faire capitalism. This economic system has been called "social capitalism" and is heavily influenced byCatholic social teaching or, more generally,Christian ethics. In addition to this objective, the PDC also supports a strong national government while remaining more conservative on social issues. However, afterPinochet's military regime ended the PDC embraced moreclassical economic policies compared to before the dictatorship. The current Secretary-General of the PDC isGonzalo Duarte. In their latest "Ideological Congress", the Christian Democrats criticized Chile's current economic system and called for a shift toward asocial market economy (economía social de mercado). The PDC had cooperated with centre-left parties after the end of Pinochet rule.
Except during the military dictatorship (1973–1990) when the congress was shut down the Christian Democrat Party was the largest party in parliament from 1965 to 2001.[17] In 2022, the party has faced a severe internal crisis, with many prominent politicians leaving it.
The origins of the party go back to the 1930s, when theConservative Party split between traditionalist and social-Christian sectors. In 1935, the social-Christians split from the Conservative Party to form theFalange Nacional (National Phalanx), a more socially oriented and centrist group.[18]
The Falange Nacional showed their centrist policies by supporting leftistJuan Antonio Ríos (Radical Party of Chile) in the 1942 presidential elections butConservativeEduardo Cruz-Coke in the 1946 elections. Despite the creation of the Falange Nacional, many social-Christians remained in the Conservative Party, which in 1949 split into the Social Christian Conservative Party and the Traditionalist Conservative Party. On July 28, 1957, primarily to back the presidential candidacy ofEduardo Frei Montalva, the Falange Nacional,Social Christian Conservative Party, and other like-minded groups joined to form the Christian Democratic Party. Frei lost the elections, but presented his candidacy again in 1964, this time also supported by the right-wing parties. That year, Frei triumphed with 56% of the vote. Despite right-wing backing for his candidacy, Frei declared his planned social revolution would not be hampered by this support.[citation needed]
In 1970,Radomiro Tomic, leader of the left-wing faction of the party, was nominated to the presidency, but lost to socialistSalvador Allende. The Christian Democrat vote was crucial in the Congressional confirmation of Allende's election, since he had received less than the necessary 50%. Although the Christian Democratic Party voted to confirm Allende's election, they declared themselves as part opposition because of Allende's economic policy. By 1973, Allende had lost the support of most Christian Democrats (except for Tomic's left-wing faction), some of whom even began calling for the military to step in. By the time of Pinochet's coup, most Christian Democrats applauded the military takeover, believing that the government would quickly be turned over to them by the military. Once it became clear that Pinochet had no intention of relinquishing power, the Christian Democrats went into opposition. During the 1981 plebiscite where Chilean voted to extend Pinochet's term for eight more years,Eduardo Frei Montalva led the only authorized opposition rally. When political parties were legalized again, the Christian Democratic Party, together with most left-wing parties, agreed to form the Coalition of Parties for the No, which opposed Pinochet's reelection on the 1988 plebiscite. This coalition later becameCoalition of Parties for Democracy once Pinochet stepped down from power and held together until 2010s.
During the first years of the return to democracy, the Christian Democrats enjoyed wide popular support. PresidentsPatricio Aylwin andEduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle were both from that party, and it was also the largest party in Congress. However, the Christian DemocratAndrés Zaldívar lost theCoalition of Parties for Democracy 1999 primaries to socialistRicardo Lagos. In the parliamentary elections of 2005, the Christian Democrats lost eight seats in Congress, and the right-wingIndependent Democratic Union became the largest party in the legislative body. The Christian Democrats lost its influence to the socialists afterMichelle Bachelet became president.
For much of the 1990s and 2000s the party contained three main factions; "Guatones", "Chascones" and "Colorines" (lit. Fatsos, Disheveleds andRedheads).[19][20] The Colorines owed their name to the hair color ofAdolfo Zaldívar and were the right-wing faction of the party.[19] The Chascones led byGabriel Silber andGabriel Ascencio were the left-wing faction and the Guatones owed their label for being "close to power" through the figures ofEduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle andPatricio Aylwin, both of them Presidents of Chile.[19]
In recent years, the Christian Democrats have favored abortion in three cases (when a pregnancy threatens the mother's life, when the fetus has little chance of survival, and when the pregnancy is a result of rape), but not in any other instances, and opposes elective abortion.[21]
The Christian Democrats left the Nueva Mayoría coalition on 29 April 2017 and nominated then-party presidentCarolina Goic as their candidate for the2017 presidential election. The Nueva Mayoria has struggled to remain united as differences have opened up within the coalition over approaches to a government reform drive, including changes to the labour code and attempted reform of Chile's strict abortion laws.[22] In 2020, all Christian Democrats senators voted in favour ofsame-sex marriage.
In 2020, the party gave its support for "Approve" in the2020 Chilean national plebiscite.
After the2019–2021 Chilean protests most of LaNueva Mayoria including the PDC regrouped to formConstituent Unity and participated in the2021 constitutional convention election (asThe Approval List) and the2021 gubernatorial elections.
After those elections the group renamed toNew Social Pact to participate in the2021 general election, PDC senatorYasna Provoste was chosen as the coalition's candidate, coming in 5th place with 11.6% of the vote. After she lost the first round the PDC supportedGabriel Boric for the second round, in which Boric won the election.
After Boric won the election, most of the New Social Pact parties supported joining Boric's government, on the other hand the Christian Democrat's president, Ximena Rincon, said that the party would be a "constructive opposition" and said that any member joining the government should have to resign to the party.[23] After this the PDC was excluded from the new coalition"Democratic Socialism".
The official support of the party for the "Approve" option in the2022 Chilean national plebiscite has led a severe internal division, with various members openly supporting the "Reject" option and subsequent calls for them to be expelled.[24] Some historic figures, likeRené Cortázar,Soledad Alvear,Gutenberg Martínez andJosé Pablo Arellano left the party by their own initiative to joinCristián Warnken'sAmarillos movement.[25][26]Ximena Rincón andMatías Walker left the party in October 2022 to form the political movementDemócratas together withCarlos Maldonado and others.[27][28] Also in October, Governor ofSantiago Metropolitan RegionClaudio Orrego left the party.[29]
Fuad Chahín, who waspresident of the party from 2018 to 2021, was suspended from the party in early November 2022.[30][31][32][33]
In 2025, the party controversially endorsed presidential candidateJeannette Jara, member of theCommunist Party of Chile, in the2025 Chilean general election. This prompted the organization to suspend the party on August 9, 2025, as "theCommunist Party of Chile has ideological affinities with authoritarian regimes responsible for human rights violations, such as those inVenezuela,Cuba, andNicaragua. This support not only contradicts the historical legacy of Christian Humanism in Chile, but also undermines the ODCA's international credibility as a defender of democracy and republican values."[34]
The following is a list of the presidential candidates supported by the Christian Democratic Party. (Information gathered from theArchive of Chilean Elections).
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Coalition | President |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Narciso Irueta | 213,468 | 15.93% | 23 / 147 | N/A | Jorge Alessandri (Ind.) | |
| 1965 | Renán Fuentealba | 995,187 | 43.60% | 82 / 147 | +59 | Eduardo Frei (PDC) | |
| 1969 | Rafael Agustín Gumucio | 716,547 | 31.05% | 55 / 150 | −27 | Eduardo Frei Montalva (PDC) | |
| 1973 | Renán Fuentealba | 1,055,120 | 29.07% | 50 / 150 | −5 | Confederation of Democracy | Salvador Allende (PS) |
| Congress Suspended (1973–1989) | |||||||
| 1989 | Andrés Zaldívar | 1,766,347 | 25.99% | 38 / 120 | N/A | Concertación | Patricio Aylwin (PDC) |
| 1993 | Gutenberg Martínez | 1,827,373 | 27.12% | 37 / 120 | −1 | Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (PDC) | |
| 1997 | Enrique Krauss | 1,331,745 | 22.98% | 38 / 120 | +1 | Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle (PDC) | |
| 2001 | Patricio Aylwin | 1,162,210 | 18.92% | 23 / 120 | −15 | Ricardo Lagos (PPD) | |
| 2005 | Adolfo Zaldívar | 1,354,631 | 20.78% | 20 / 120 | −3 | Michelle Bachelet (PS) | |
| 2009 | Juan Carlos Latorre | 931,789 | 14.24% | 19 / 120 | −1 | Sebastián Piñera (RN) | |
| 2013 | Ignacio Walker | 965,364 | 15.56% | 22 / 120 | +3 | New Majority | Michelle Bachelet (PS) |
| 2017 | Carolina Goic | 616,550 | 10.28% | 14 / 155 | −8 | Democratic Convergence | Sebastian Piñera (Ind.) |
| 2021 | Yasna Provoste | 264,985 | 4.19% | 8 / 155 | −6 | New Social Pact | Gabriel Boric (CS) |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link){{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)
Media related toChristian Democrat Party of Chile at Wikimedia Commons
