National Party (Chile, 1966)

Not to be confused with National Party (Chile, 1857).

National Party
Partido Nacional
President (s)Víctor García Garzena,
Sergio Onofre Jarpa,
Patricio Phillips,
Germán Riesco Zañartu
Founded11 May 1966
Dissolved18 August 1994
Merger ofUnited Conservative Party, Liberal Party and National Action
Merged intoProgressive Union of the Centrist Center
HeadquartersSantiago de Chile
NewspaperTribuna (1971–1973)
Paramilitary wingRolando Matus Command
IdeologyNational conservatism
Economic liberalism
Anti-communism
Political positionRight-wing
National affiliationConfederation of Democracy (1972–1973),
Alianza (1992–1994)
Party flag

The National Party (Spanish: Partido Nacional, PN) was a Chilean political party formed in 1966 by the union of the United Conservative Party, the Liberal Party and the National Action (founded in 1963 by Jorge Prat Echaurren, who had been Minister of Finances in 1954 in Carlos Ibáñez del Campo's cabinet).[1]

The PN represented the right-wing of the Chilean political spectrum, against the centrist Christian Democratic Party and the leftist coalition Popular Unity.

The party supported the Pinochet coup of 11 September 1973 and dissolved itself in the same year.

History

Formation (1966)

The National Party was created on 11 May 1966 through the merger of the United Conservative Party, the Liberal Party, and National Action. The merger aimed to unite the Chilean right into a single force capable of countering the growing influence of centrist and left-wing movements.

Role during the Allende years (1970–1973)

The National Party candidate Jorge Alessandri lost the 1970 presidential election. The party opposed the government of Salvador Allende and his Popular Unity coalition. In August 1973, Three years later, in August 1973, amid intense political polarization, the National Party joined forces with the Christian Democrats in Congress to confront the Allende administration. The following month, newly appointed chief of staff General Augusto Pinochet led the 1973 military coup against Allende.

Following the military coup of 11 September 1973, led by General Augusto Pinochet, the National Party expressed support for the coup and voluntarily dissolved itself on 21 September 1973.[2]

Reorganisation efforts (1983–1994)

In March 1983, former members of the National Party and its supporters formed the Civic Action Committee to reconstruct a unified right-wing party. Later that year, group leaders Carmen Sáenz, Silvia Alessandri, and Alicia Ruiz-Tagle de Ochagavía attempted to reconstitute the National Party itself. Despite these efforts, the Chilean right-wing remained divided; thirteen backbench MPs joined the National Party under former Senator Patricio Phillips Peñafiel, while twenty deputies and many former leaders and activists joined the National Union Movement, which later became National Renewal (RN). Supporters of the Gremialismo movement joined the Independent Democratic Union (UDI), and nationalist factions formed the National Action Movement (MAN), later evolving into National Advance.

The PN also participated in the creation of the Group of Eight but, following poor electoral results, formally disbanded during the transition to democracy in 1994.

Presidential candidates

The following is a list of the presidential candidates supported by the National Party. (Information gathered from the Archive of Chilean Elections).

References

  1. ^ Scully, Timothy R. (September 1990). "Reappraising the Role of the Center: The Case of the Chilean Party System". The Helen Kellogg Institute for International Studies. Working Paper #143: 21. CiteSeerX 10.1.1.352.3853.
  2. ^ Correa, Sofía (1993). "The Chilean Right After Pinochet". In Angell, Alan; Pollack, Benny (eds.). The Legacy of Dictatorship: Political, Economic and Social Change in Pinochet's Chile (PDF). Liverpool, UK: University of Liverpool: Institute of Latin American Studies. pp. 164–165.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Party_(Chile,_1966)