Leader Álvaro Uribe Headquarters Bogotá, Colombia | President Oscar Ivan Zuluaga Political position Right-wing | |
Founded 20 January 2013 (20 January 2013) Ideology Uribism
Communitarism
Social conservatism
National conservatism
Right-wing populism | ||
Democratic Centre (identified electorally as Democratic Centre – Strong Hand, Big Heart) (Spanish: Centro Democrático – Mano firme, corazón grande) is a political party in Colombia founded by Álvaro Uribe, former President, former Vice President Francisco Santos Calderon and former Finance Minister Óscar Iván Zuluaga.
The Party was founded in January 2013, as a big tent coalition of individuals opposing the current direction undertaken by President Santos and the Social Party of National Unity. A key factor in this were the Government negotiations with FARC, the major left-wing anti-government guerilla force in the Colombian armed conflict.
Although created as a decidedly right-wing party, its members now come from an extreme range of political backgrounds, including former politicians of the right-wing Conservative Party, the center-right Social Party of National Unity, the left-wing Alternative Democratic Pole and from the M19 such as Senator Everth Bustamante.
Electoral History
In the 2014 Congressional elections, the Democratic Centre achieved a remarkable 20 senate seats and also obtained 19 seats in the House of Representatives. In the 2014 Presidential Election, the Democratic Centre chose former Senator and Finance Minister during the Uribe Administration Oscar Ivan Zuluaga as it's presidential nominee. Zuluaga won the first round, but subsequently lost the second round to incumbent President Santos. Despite the second round loss, the electoral performance in both Congressional and Presidential elections provided the Democratic Centre with a platform to establishe itself as the major opposition party in Colombia. The party has since taken steps to improve it's political infrastructure given that it lagged behind in funding and party organisation when compared to more traditional political parties.