The Party was formed in 2005, with the objective of uniting various congressional supporters of President Alvaro Uribe, also known as Uribistas, into one political party, and to provide a political platform for the 2006 Colombian Presidential Elections. Most of its members defected from the Colombian Liberal Party, yet it failed to unite all Uribistas: in particular the Radical Change refused to join. In 2006, the party took part in the parliamentary elections, in which it won 30 out of 166 deputies and 20 out of 100 senators. Three years later, more than half of the congressmen from the Radical Change Party changed their standing towards the Party of the U, which resulted in it becoming Colombia's largest political party. For 2010 presidential elections, Party of the U chose former Defense Minister Juan ManuelSantos as a presidential candidate and Governor Angelino Garzon as a vice presidential candidate. Juan Manuel Santos was elected with 69% of the vote in the runoff. The Party also obtained 27 seats in the Senate in the 2010 congressional elections. In 2012, the Uribistas and former President Alvaro Uribe along with Francisco Santos Calderon decided to form their own separate party, the Democratic Center. This was the result of constant intervention and criticism from former President Alvaro Uribe towards his presidential successor Juan Manuel Santos. The announcement of peace negotiations with the FARC and the Colombian Government was a partial factor that led to the fragmentation. Nevertheless, the party did not suffer high-level defections towards the Democratic Center. It came first in the Senate elections, followed in second place by the Democratic Center led by Alvaro Uribe who then became a Senator. In 2014, President Juan Manuel Santos was re-elected for a second term, in a close race against former cabinet colleague and ex-Finance Minister Oscar Ivan Zuluaga of the Democratic Center. The party has yet to officially announce its electoral strategy for 2018, but it is widely expected to form an electoral alliance with the Liberal Party.
Ideological platform
The Programmatic Declaration is the official ideological platform of the party.
The Party supports the implementation of a market-based economy.
It promotes globalisation, emphasising education, science, and technology as key pillars that can help Colombia succeed in a global market.
The Party supports decentralisation and more autonomy of the regions. Currently, the Caribbean Region is the first to begin the process to obtain more autonomy.
President Santos has also claimed that he supports Tony Blair's Third Way approach.
In the 2014 Congressional elections, the Democratic Centre won 20 senate seats and also obtained 19 seats in the House of Representatives. In the 2014 Presidential Election, the Democratic Centre chose former Senator and Finance Minister during the Uribe Administration Óscar Iván Zuluaga as its presidential nominee. Zuluaga won the first round, but subsequently lost the second round to President-candidate 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 behind in funding and party organisation when compared to more traditional political parties.
