National Unity Front

Last updated

National Unity Front
Frente de Unidad Nacional
Leader Samuel Doria Medina
Founded12 December 2003;20 years ago (2003-12-12)
Split from Revolutionary Left Movement
Ideology
Political position Centre [2] to centre-left [2] [3]
International affiliation Socialist International [4]
Colorswhite, blue, yellow
Chamber of Deputies
0 / 130
Senate
0 / 36

The National Unity Front (Spanish: Frente de Unidad Nacional) is a political party in Bolivia. It was founded in late 2003 by Samuel Jorge Doria Medina Auza, who had broken with the Revolutionary Left Movement earlier that year. [5] It has 36 members of the Chamber of Deputies in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. Despite its substantial share of the urban vote, and 16 former mayors, it does not control any city halls or governorships. The party is closely identified with Doria Medina's cement company Sociedad Boliviana de Cemento (Soboce). [6]

In describing itself, National Unity emphasizes pro-development economic policies and support for democratic governance. Its mission statement calls for "a democratic Bolivia with solidarity, in full development, respectful of human rights, conscious of its diversity, and forging its own destiny". [7] In founding the party, cement magnate Doria Medina called for policies to favor "those entrepreneurs who generate employment and are absent from national decisionmaking". [5] The party seeks to position itself as a moderate third force in Bolivian politics. [8] Its electoral base is the urban middle class. [9]

At the legislative elections in 2005, the party won 7.8% of the popular vote and 8 out of 130 seats in the Chamber of Deputies and one out of 27 seats in the Senate. Its candidate at the presidential elections, Doria Medina, won 7.8% of the popular vote. In the 2009 elections, Medina ran again and won 5.65% of the vote. The party won three seats in the Chamber of Deputies but none in the Senate. As of 2013, Bolivia's Supreme Electoral Tribunal certified a list of 69,844 members, although the party claims to have 120,000 on its rolls. [6]

In the 2010 regional elections, UN formed alliances with Popular Consensus in Cochabamba and Chuquisaca departments (All for Cochabamba (TPC) and We Are All Chuquisaca, respectively), becoming the largest opposition grouping. Running independently, it was the third-largest party in La Paz and Oruro departments. At the municipal level, the party did not win any mayors' races, after gaining control of 16 in 2004. [10] It obtained municipal council representation in La Paz, El Alto, Cochabamba (where candidate Arturo Murillo narrowly failed to win the mayorship but TPC won five of the eleven seats equaling the governing party's share [11] ), and Oruro. In El Alto, Soledad Chapetón was narrowly defeated by MAS-IPSP candidate Edgar Patana, while the party won 3 of 11 council seats. [12] As of 2013, Chapetón is the vice president of the party. [6]

In the 2014 general election, the presidential candidate was its party leader Medina, who in this election was the second-most voted with 24.23% and the party won 9 senators and 36 deputies, becoming the main opposition party to Evo Morales' government. In March 2017 National Unity Front was accepted as a member in the Socialist International. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Politics of Bolivia</span> Political system of the Plurinational State of Bolivia

The politics of Bolivia takes place in a framework of a presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the president is head of state, head of government and head of a diverse multi-party system. Executive power is exercised by the government. Legislative power is vested in both the government and the two chambers of parliament. Both the Judiciary and the electoral branch are independent of the executive and the legislature. After the 2014 Bolivian general election, 53.1% of the seats in national parliament were held by women, a higher proportion of women than that of the population.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Elections in Bolivia</span>

Bolivia elects on national level a head of state – the president – and a legislature. The president and the vice-president are elected for a five-year term by the people. The National Congress has two chambers. The Chamber of Deputies has 130 members, elected for a five-year term using the Additional Member System, and in the case of seven indigenous seats by usos y costumbres. The Chamber of Senators has 36 members: each of the country's nine departments returns four senators allocated proportionally.

The Fearless Movement is a defunct progressive political party in Bolivia. MSM was founded on March 1, 1999 and dissolved following the 2014 Bolivian general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Movimiento al Socialismo</span> Political party in Bolivia

The Movement for Socialism, officially the Movement for Socialism – Political Instrument for the Sovereignty of the Peoples, is a socialist political party in Bolivia. Its followers are known as Masistas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2009 Bolivian general election</span>

General elections were held in Bolivia on December 6, 2009, following a constitutional referendum held on 25 January 2009. The election was initially expected to be held in 2010. Voters elected:

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Bolivian regional elections</span>

The 2010 Bolivian regional elections were held on 4 April 2010. Departmental and municipal authorities were elected by an electorate of approximately 5 million people. Among the officials elected are:

The first Bolivian judicial election was held on 16 October 2011. The national vote was held to elect magistrates to serve on the Supreme Court of Justice, the Plurinational Constitutional Court, the Agro-environmental Court and members of the Judiciary Council. It was originally scheduled to be held on 5 December 2010, but officials of the National Electoral Court and of the MAS majority in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly delayed it. The vote will be the first time that a Latin American country directly elects its highest judicial officials.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edmundo Novillo</span>

Edmundo Novillo Aguilar is a Bolivian lawyer, politician, and Governor of Cochabamba. His political career includes serving on the Departmental Council, as Mayor of Totora, and as a Deputy in the Bolivian Chamber of Deputies. He was Presidents of the Chamber of Deputies for four years from 2006 to 2010. He is affiliated with the Movement for Socialism (MAS-IPSP), and was the first MAS-IPSP member to serve a President of the Chamber of Deputies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plurinational Electoral Organ</span> Electoral organ in Bolivia

The Plurinational Electoral Organ is the independent electoral branch of the government of Bolivia. It replaced the National Electoral Court in 2010.

The Supreme Court of Justice is the highest court of ordinary jurisdiction in Bolivia, based in Sucre. Its powers are set out in Articles 181–185 of the 2009 Constitution and the Law of the Judicial Organ. It was first seated on 2 January 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 Bolivian general election</span> General election in Bolivia

General elections were held in Bolivia on 12 October 2014, the second to take place under the country's 2009 constitution, and the first supervised by the Plurinational Electoral Organ, a newly created fourth branch of government. Incumbent President Evo Morales was re-elected for a third term.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Social Democratic Movement</span> Political party in Bolivia

The Social Democratic Movement, often shortened to just the Democrats, is a centre-right political party in Bolivia founded in 2013 for the movement for greater autonomy for the eastern departments of the Media Luna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia</span>

The 2010–2015 Plurinational Legislative Assembly of Bolivia was the first class of the Bolivian legislature, also known as the Plurinational Legislative Assembly, to go by that name. The Assembly was controlled in both houses by the governing Movement for Socialism (MAS-IPSP), elected with a 2/3 supermajority, although some members later separated themselves from the majority. Just four incumbent members of the 2005–2010 Congress returned: Deputy Antonio Franco; Deputy Javier Zabaleta (MAS-IPSP/MSM); Senator René Martínez (MAS-IPSP), who was a deputy; and Senator Róger Pinto, previously of Podemos and now representing PPB-CN.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oscar Ortiz (Bolivian politician)</span> Bolivian politician (born 1969)

Oscar Miguel Ortiz Antelo is a Bolivian businessman and politician who served as minister of economy and public finance from July to September 2020 and as minister of productive development from May to July 2020. As a member of the Social Democratic Movement, he previously served two terms as a senator for Santa Cruz from 2015 to 2020 on behalf of the Democratic Unity coalition and from 2006 to 2010 on behalf of the Social Democratic Power alliance. Nearing the end of his second term, Ortiz was his party's presidential candidate, attaining fourth place in the annulled 2019 general elections. During his first term, he served as president of the Senate from 2008 to 2010, the last opposition legislator to preside over the upper chamber as of 2024. Outside of national politics, Ortiz served as president of the Union of Latin American Parties from 2018 to 2021 and has been the rector of the Bolivian Catholic University at Santa Cruz since 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Bolivian regional elections</span> Departmental and municipal elections in Bolivia

The 2021 Bolivian regional elections were held on 7 March 2021. Departmental and municipal authorities were elected by an electorate of approximately 7 million people. This was the third regional election under the 2009 constitution. It was postponed from the expected date of 2020 due to the 2019 Bolivian political crisis and delays in holding the 2020 Bolivian general election. All elected authorities assumed office on 3 May.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Soledad Chapetón</span> Bolivian politician

Carmen Soledad Chapetón Tancara is a Bolivian politician with expertise in pedagogy. She was the first woman to serve as Mayor of El Alto, a post she held from 31 May 2015 through 3 May 2021.

The 2021 El Alto municipal election was held on Sunday, 7 March 2021, to elect the mayor and eleven councillors to the El Alto Municipal Council. Incumbent Mayor Soledad Chapetón was eligible to seek a second term but declined for personal reasons. Fourteen fronts presented candidates. In the election, Eva Copa of the Jallalla La Paz civic group handily defeated Movement for Socialism nominee Zacarías Maquera and thirteen other candidates with 68.70% of the vote to become El Alto's mayor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Erik Morón</span> Bolivian politician

Erik Morón Osinaga is a Bolivian economist and politician serving as substitute senator for Santa Cruz. A former member of the Revolutionary Nationalist Movement —of which he was national leader from 2011 to 2016— he previously served as a plurinominal member of the Chamber of Deputies from Santa Cruz from 2015 to 2020 on behalf of the Democratic Unity coalition.

The 2021 La Paz municipal election was held in La Paz, Bolivia on Sunday, 7 March 2021, involving separate contests for mayor and all eleven municipal council seats. Incumbent mayor Luis Revilla was eligible to seek a third term but declined, leaving the mayoralty an open contest. The election was won by former minister of public works Iván Arias of the Somos Pueblo alliance, who attained a near absolute majority of 49.52 percent against a field of ten other candidates. On the municipal ballot, Somos Pueblo won 48.04 percent of the vote, winning the six seats needed to exercise a simple majority on the municipal council, with the Movement for Socialism taking the remaining five seats. Revilla's party, Sovereignty and Liberty, lost both the mayoralty and all representation on the municipal council, concluding a twenty-year period of political continuity that started in 2000 with the assumption of Juan del Granado.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Saúl Lara</span> Bolivian politician (born 1957)

Saúl Octavio Lara Torrico is a Bolivian lawyer, jurist, and politician who has served as a party-list member of the Chamber of Deputies from Cochabamba since 2020. A member of Civic Community, he previously served as vice minister of the interior from 2003 to 2004 and as minister of government from 2004 to 2005. A graduate of the Higher University of San Simón, Lara spent much of his career as a legal advisor and consultant for various public and private institutions and corporations. From 1993 to 1997, he served as chief of staff to Foreign Minister Antonio Araníbar, during which time he joined the minister's party, the Free Bolivia Movement, of which he was secretary of finance. Appointed to head the Ministry of Government in 2004, Lara developed a lasting personal friendship with then-president Carlos Mesa, aiding his 2019 campaign to return to the presidency. The following year, he joined Civic Community's electoral list in the Cochabamba Department, netting a seat in the Chamber of Deputies in the 2020–2025 Legislative Assembly.

References

  1. ↑ "Unidad Nacional, el desafío de ser o no un partido-empresa". La Razón | Noticias de Bolivia y el Mundo. Retrieved 22 October 2021.
  2. 1 2 "UN se define como partido de centro izquierda apuntando a crecer en 2013". eju.tv (in Spanish). El Diario. 30 December 2012. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  3. ↑ "Bolivie: Soledad Chapeton, femme, maire, indigène, autre visage de l'opposition". L'Obs (in French). AFP. 1 November 2019. Retrieved 13 November 2019.
  4. ↑ "Full list of member parties and organisations". Socialist International. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
  5. 1 2 Lansford, Tom (2012). Political Handbook of the World 2012. SAGE. p.  155. ISBN   9781608719952.
  6. 1 2 3 "Unidad Nacional, el desafío de ser o no un partido-empresa". La Razón. 28 July 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  7. ↑ "Sostenemos el ideal de una Bolivia democrática y solidaria, en pleno desarrollo, respetuosa de los derechos humanos, consciente de su diversidad y forjadora de su propio destino." Unidad Nacional. "Organización". Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  8. ↑ "Bolivia: Opposition acknowledges Evo Morales' victory". M24 Digital. 7 December 2009. Archived from the original on 2 December 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  9. ↑ Bustillos Zamorano, Iván (17 November 2013). "Democracia interna en los partidos, la cuenta pendiente". La Razón. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  10. ↑ "MAS ganó en 231 alcaldías". Los Tiempos. 16 May 2010. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 21 May 2010.
  11. ↑ "MAS gana alcaldía de Cochabamba y Baldivieso tiene el voto de oro". Los Tiempos. 6 April 2010. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 23 November 2013.
  12. ↑ Corte Nacional Electoral, Acto de Computo Nacional Archived 16 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ↑ "Resolutions and Decisions of the XXV Congress of the Socialist International" (PDF). Cartagena, Colombia. 2–4 March 2017. Retrieved 12 March 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.