National Coalition Party (El Salvador)

The National Coalition Party (Spanish: Partido de Concertación Nacional, PCN) is a nationalist political party in El Salvador. Until 2011 it was known as the National Conciliation Party (Spanish: Partido de Conciliación Nacional, PCN). It was the most powerful political party in the country during the 1960s and 1970s, and was closely associated with the Salvadoran military. Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo, a candidate of the National Conciliation Party, was elected president in 1962, and the next three presidents were also from the party. After the 1979 coup the party declined in influence but continued to exist.

National Coalition Party Partido de Concertación Nacional
Leader	Manuel Rodriguez
Founded	September 30, 1961 (original) September 2011 (re-founded)
Headquarters	San Salvador
Ideology	Nationalism[1] National liberalism
Political position	Centre-right
Regional affiliation	Center-Democratic Integration Group
Seats in the Legislative Assembly	9 / 84
Mayors	25 / 262
Central American Parliament	1 / 20
Party flag
Website
www.pcnoficial.com
Politics of El Salvador Political parties Elections

1982 election poster

History

2000-Currently

Today, it is considered relatively minor as compared with the two major organizations, ARENA and the FMLN.

At the legislative elections, held on 16 March 2003, the party won 13.0% of the popular vote and 16 out of 84 seats in the Legislative Assembly. Its candidate in the presidential election of 21 March 2004, José Rafael Machuca Zelaya, won 2.7%. In the 12 March 2006 legislative election, the party won 11.0% of the popular vote and 10 out of 84 seats, a major decline in representation, but the party is still the third largest political party in El Salvador. At the January 18, 2009 legislative elections the party won 11 seats.

With no party holding a majority, it can be seen as holding the balance of power. However, it usually sides with the conservative ARENA party.

While the party was technically to be disbanded after the 2004 election, in which its candidate did not gather the necessary 3% of the vote, it was allowed to hold on to its registration by decree; this decree was declared unconstitutional on 30 April 2011, and the party was thus disbanded.[2]

The party was de facto re-established, registering with the Supreme Electoral Tribunal as the National Coalition ('Concertación Nacional', CN) in September 2011.[3] After one year, it added the word 'Partido' ("party") to its full name, which allowed it to again use the traditional acronym PCN.[4] Since 2018, the party has 9 out of 84 congressmen and 25 out of 262 mayorship offices.

PCN Presidents of El Salvador

• Julio Adalberto Rivera (1962–1967)
• Fidel Sánchez Hernández (1967–1972)
• Arturo Armando Molina (1972–1977)
• Carlos Humberto Romero (1977–1979)

Electoral history

Presidential elections

Election	Candidate	First round		Result
		Votes	%
1962	Julio Adalberto Rivera Carballo	368,801	100%	Elected
1967	Fidel Sánchez Hernández	267,447	54.37%	Elected
1972	Arturo Armando Molina	334,600	43.42%	Elected
1977	Carlos Humberto Romero	812,281	67.30%	Elected
1982	Supported Álvaro Magaña	36	60%	Elected
1984	José Francisco Guerrero	244,556	19.31%	Lost N
1989	Rafael Morán Castañeda	38,218	4.1%	Lost N
1994	Roberto Escobar García	70,504	5.4%	Lost N
1999	Hernán Contreras	45,140	3.82%	Lost N
2004	José Rafael Machuca Zelaya	61,781	2.71%	Lost N
2009	Did not run
2014	Antonio Saca	307,603	11.44%	Lost N
2019	Supported Carlos Calleja (ARENA)	857,084	31.72%	Lost N

Note

In the 1982 election Álvaro Magaña was elected by the Legislative Assembly

Legislative Assembly elections

Election	Votes	%	Position	Seats	+/–	Status in legislature
1961	207,701	60.1%	1st	54 / 54	54	Government
1964	176,620	58.6%	1st	32 / 52	22	Government
1966	207,586	53.6%	1st	31 / 52	1	Government
1968	212,661	47.7%	1st	27 / 52	4	Government
1970	315,560	59.8%	1st	34 / 52	7	Government
1972	353,775	67.4%	1st	39 / 52	5	Government
1974			1st	36 / 52	3	Government
1976			1st	52 / 52	18	Government
1978	766,673	90.3%	1st	50 / 54	2	Government
1982	273,383	18.6%	3rd	14 / 60	36	Government
1985	80,730	8.3%	3rd	12 / 60	2	Opposition
1988	78,756	8.5%	3rd	7 / 60	5	Opposition
1991	94,531	9.0%	4th	9 / 52	2	Opposition
1994	83,520	6.21%	4th	4 / 84	5	Opposition
1997	97,362	8.4%	3rd	11 / 84	7	Opposition
2000	106,802	8.8%	3rd	13 / 84	2	Opposition
2003	181,167	13.0%	3rd	16 / 84	3	Opposition
2006	172,341	11.0%	3rd	10 / 84	6	Opposition
2009	194,751	8.79%	3rd	11 / 84	1	Opposition
2012	157,074	7.18%	4th	7 / 84	4	Opposition
2015	154,093	6.77%	4th	4 / 84	3	Opposition
2018	230,862	10.87%	3rd	9 / 84	5	Opposition

References

1. http://www.pcn.com.sv/principios-y-objetivos
2. El Salvador Supreme Court disbands two parties, BBC News, 30 April 2011, retrieved 12 March 2012
3. "TSE anuncia inscripción del partido Concertación Nacional", El Salvador Noticias, 23 September 2011, retrieved 12 March 2012
4. Rivera, Edgardo (26 September 2012), El PES volverá a llamarse PDC y el CN también busca ser PCN, archived from the original on 2 February 2014

External links

• Website of the party