Party for Democracy

Partido por la Democracia
Leader	Carolina Tohá
Founded	December 15, 1987
Headquarters	Santo Domingo 1828 Santiago
Youth wing	Juventud PPD
Ideology	Social democracy, Social liberalism, Progressivism
Political position	Centre-left
National affiliation	Concert of Parties for Democracy
International affiliation	Socialist International
Official colours	Blue, Yellow and Red
Chamber of Deputies	18 / 120
Senate	4 / 38
Local government	35 / 345
Website
ppd.cl

The Party for Democracy (Partido por la Democracia) is a political party in Chile; it is social democratic in its political orientation. It was founded in December 1987 by Ricardo Lagos, who aimed at forming a legal social democratic party (the Socialist Party remained illegal at the time). The party continued to function after the defeat of Pinochet. Until 1997, double membership of PPD and the Socialist Party was allowed. In the parliamentary elections held since the return of democracy to Chile, the Party for Democracy has invariably won somewhat more votes (and seats) than the Socialist Party.

The party nominated, as part of the Concertación (Coalition of Parties for Democracy), in the 1999/2000 presidential elections Ricardo Lagos Escobar, the main leader of the party, who won 48.0 % in the first round and was elected with 51.3 % in the second round. At the 2001 legislative election, the party ran as part of the Coalition of Parties for Democracy and won 20 out of 120 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 3 out of 38 elected seats in the Senate. This changed at the 2005 elections to 21 and 3. In 2009, it won 18 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and 4 in the Senate.

External links

• Official web site