Democratic Centre (Colombia)

The party was born due to the estrangement between Juan Manuel Santos and President Álvaro Uribe. Santos served as Minister of Defense during the Uribe administration; in 2005, he founded the Social Party of National Unity, now known as the U Party, which openly supported Uribe's re-election in 2006. However, after winning the 2010 presidential election, Santos made multiple decisions which displeased Uribe, such as increased diplomatic relations with neighbors like Venezuela and a move away from neoliberalism. Uribe was particularly critical of Santos's peace talks with the far-left guerilla group FARC starting in 2011. The Democratic Centre party was formally established on 20 January 2013 with the goals of disrupting FARC negotiations and preventing Santos's re-election in 2014. With President Iván Duque's unpopularity rate reaching 70%, the government was faced with the largest demonstrations in the country's history from 2019 to 2020. Demonstrators opposed the government's plans to make the labour market more flexible, weaken the public pension fund in favour of private entities, and raise the retirement age. Labor unions also protested against the tax reform, which aimed to reduce the taxes paid by companies, and against the privatisation under way. Another massive protest movement took place in 2021. The party was considered a regional partner of European Conservatives and Reformists Party until 2022. == Ideology ==

Although created as a decidedly right-wing party, its members now come from a wide range of political backgrounds, including former politicians of the right-wing Conservative Party, the center-right Social Party of National Unity, and from the left-wing Alternative Democratic Pole, such as Senator Everth Bustamante. The party is a strong advocate of economic liberalism. It intends to lower corporate taxation and further liberalise the economy in order to attract international investors, particularly to promote the exploitation of natural resources. It is also strongly focused on domestic security, including the elimination of terrorist threats, and promoting social cohesion. On international policy issues, the party is pro-American. ==Electoral history==

In the 2014 congressional elections, the Democratic Centre won 20 seats in the Senate and 19 seats in the Chamber of Representatives. In the 2014 presidential election, the Democratic Centre chose Óscar Iván Zuluaga, the Senator and Finance Minister during the Uribe Administration, as its 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 establish itself as the major opposition party in Colombia. The party has since taken steps to improve its political infrastructure given that it lagged in funding and party organisation compared to more traditional political parties. Presidential elections Legislative elections ==References==