The (''Partido Demócrata Cristiano de Chile'') is a
Political Party in
Chile and governs as part of the
Coalition Of Parties For Democracy coalition.
was founded in July 28, 1957 in the merger of the National Phalanx and the Conservative Christian Social Party
The party supported in the 1999/2000 presidential elections
Ricardo Lagos Escobar , who won 48.0 % in the first round and was elected with 51.3 % in the second round. At the last
Legislative Elections , 16 december 2001, the party won as part of the
Coalition Of Parties For Democracy 23 out of 117 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 12 out of 38 elected seats in the Senate. This changed at the
2005 Elections to 20 and 7.
It is led by
Adolfo Zaldívar . The current
President ,
Ricardo Lagos Escobar is from another party in the coalition, the
Socialist Party . There have been three Christian Democrat presidents in the past,
Eduardo Frei Ruiz-Tagle ,
Patricio Aylwin , and
Eduardo Frei Montalva .
The past two presidents of the fairly recent democratic Chile have been from one party. These presidents owed allegiance to the or the '''PDC'''. The Christian Democrat Party is the single largest political entity with governmental power within Chile. The PDC actually operates as the leader of a coalition consisting of five total political parties. This coalition is called the Coalition of Parties for Democracy. In the Senate, as of 2001, the PDC seated twelve members. Having one-fourth of the total forty-eight Senators come from the PDC, this party proves itself to be a dominant political power.
Customarily, the PDC backs specific initiatives in an effort to bridge
Communism and
Capitalism . This idea has been called "
Communitarian Socialism ." In addition to this objective, the PDC also supports a strong national government. Specifically, in the 1990’s, the PDC modernized by adopting a position closer to economic liberalism. Many of the parties in Chile have come to accept the free market that has helped to revitalize Chile's economy. The current president of the PDC is senator Adolfo Zaldívar.
