Social Party of National Unity

Social Party of National Unity Partido Social de Unidad Nacional

Leader	Juan Manuel Santos
President	Sergio Díaz-Granados Guida
Founded	2005 (2005)
Headquarters	Bogotá, Colombia
Ideology	Uribism (formerly) Third Way^[1] Conservative liberalism
Political position	Centre-right
International affiliation	Liberal International (observer)
Colours	Orange
Seats in the Chamber of Representatives	37 / 166
Seats in the Senate	21 / 102
Governors	4 / 32
Website
www.partidodelau.com
Politics of Colombia Political parties Elections

The Social Party of National Unity (Spanish: Partido Social de Unidad Nacional), or Party of the U (Spanish: Partido de «la U») is a political party in Colombia. It attempted to unite various parliamentary supporters of Álvaro Uribe, the Uribistas, in one political party, but the Uribistas went on to form the opposition Democratic Center party. Currently, it is Colombia's largest political party and has formed a coalition with the Radical Change and the Colombian Liberal Party.

The party was founded in 2005 and is led by Juan Manuel Santos. Most members of the movement left the Colombian Liberal Party but they failed to unite all Uribistas: in particular the Radical Change (Cambio Radical) didn't join. The party took part in the parliamentary elections of 2006, in which it won 30 out of 166 deputies and 20 out of 100 senators.

The party, along with Cambio Radical, were the first to investigate the relation between some candidates and paramilitary forces. After investigating, many candidates were fired from the party and weren't supported by it. Most of these candidates joined minor parties, and were elected as congressmen.

In 2009, more than half of the congressmen from the Radical Change Party switched to Party of the U, so the party became Colombia's largest.

For 2010 presidential elections, Party of the U chose former defense minister Juan Manuel Santos as presidential candidate and syndicalist Angelino Garzon as vicepresidential candidate. They have obtained support from an important sector of the Colombian Conservative Party.

On March 14, 2010, congressional elections were held. Party of the U obtained 27 seats in senate, seven more than in 2006.

On June 20, 2010, candidate Juan Manuel Santos was elected President of Colombia.

Ideological platform

The Programatic Declaration (Declaración Programática) is the official ideological platform of the party.

The Social Party of National Unity supports the development of a welfare state and recognizes the family as base of society. It also recognizes and approves globalization, emphasizing education, science and technology as opportunities that can help Colombia succeed in a global market. The party supports decentralization and autonomy of regions. Currently, the Caribbean Region is the first to begin the process to obtain more autonomy.
For Uribistas, security is the first duty of the State. Without security, social programs can't be successful in rural areas controlled by narcoterrorist groups. The concept of Democratic Security, the main axis of Uribe's government, consists of bringing security to different social sectors, including ethnic minorities, journalists, labor unions and regional politicians.
The concept of "Communitarian State" is another important ideological pillar for the party. It emphasizes the development of communities, in order to bring stability to the whole state. The state brings development to marginalized communities while private companies focus on the economy, providing additional products and services.
The Party has a strong think-tank called Security and Democracy Foundation (Fundación Seguridad y Democracia) directed by Alfredo Rangel, which analyzes security in the different countries of Latin America.
The party leader has also claimed that he supports Tony Blair's Third Way approach.^[2]

Since 2012, the party has been an observer member of the Liberal International.^[3]

Founding members

Juan Manuel Santos
Luis Guillermo Vélez
Aurelio Irragori
Carlos García Orjuela
Dilian Francisca Toro
Eduardo Benítez
Alfonso Angarita
Sergio Díaz Granados
José Name Terán
Miguel Amín
Mauricio Pimiento
Carlos Enrique Soto
Zulema Jattin
Luis Antonio Serrano
Ricardo Arias Mora
Jairo Merlano
Manuel Enrique Rosero
Piedad Zucardi
Flor Gnecco
Carlos Augusto Celis
María Isabel Mejía

References

↑ Crowe, Darcy (21 June 2010). "Colombia Elects Santos as President". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
↑ Crowe, Darcy (21 June 2010). "Colombia Elects Santos as President". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
↑ Partido de la U - Colombia, Liberal International: Observer members. Retrieved on 2 March 2013.

External links

Partido de la U

Political parties in Colombia

Chamber of Representatives	Colombian Liberal Party (39) Social Party of National Unity (37) Colombian Conservative Party (28) Democratic Center (18) Radical Change (16) Green Party (6) National Integration Party (6) Alternative Democratic Pole (3) Independent Movement of Absolute Renovation (3) 100% Colombia (3) Indigenous Authorities of Colombia (2) FUNECO (2) Indigenous Social Alliance Movement (1) For a Greater Huila (1)

Senate	Social Party of National Unity (21) Democratic Center (20) Colombian Conservative Party (18) Colombian Liberal Party (17) Radical Change (9) Green Party (5) Alternative Democratic Pole (5) National Integration Party (5) Indigenous and Alternative Social Movement (1) Indigenous Social Alliance Movement (1)

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