Party of the Democratic Revolution
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| Partido de la Revolución Democrática PRD |
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| Leader | Leonel Cota |
| Founded | May 5, 1989 |
| Headquarters | 84, Benjamín Franklin - Mexico City, Mexico |
| Political Ideology | Centre-left, Liberalism, Social democracy |
| International Affiliation | Socialist International |
| Continental Affiliation | |
| Colours | gold |
| Website | http://www.prd.org.mx |
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The Party of the Democratic Revolution (in Spanish: Partido de la Revolución Democrática, PRD) is one of the three main political parties in Mexico.
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[edit] History
Founded in Mexico City on May 5, 1989 by Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano, Heberto Castillo, Gilberto Rincón Gallardo, Porfirio Muñoz Ledo, other prominent PRI members and left-wing politicians. The party was originally founded by including many smaller left-wing parties such as the Partido Comunista Mexicano (PCM, Mexican Communist Party), Partido Socialista Unificado de México (PSUM, Unified Socialist Party of Mexico), Partido Mexicano Socialista (PMS, Mexican Socialist Party) and Partido Mexicano de los Trabajadores (PMT, Mexican Workers' Party). The PMS donated its registration with the Federal Electoral Commission (CFE) to enable the new party to be established.
It was proclaimed to be the party of the 6 de julio (July 6), referring to the date of the 1988 presidential election where it is alleged that Cárdenas, the candidate of a coalition of center-left parties called Frente Democrático Nacional (Democratic National Front) won the election but was denied victory by fraudulent means. Victory was instead handed to PRI candidate, Carlos Salinas de Gortari.
[edit] Electoral Presence
The party has a strong electoral presence in central and southern Mexico. It has won gubernatorial races in several states including Baja California Sur, Chiapas, Guerrero, Michoacán and Zacatecas. It has also maintained control over the Federal District (Mexico City) ever since the city's voters were first allowed to elect local authorities in 1997. In the 2003 local elections, 13 of the Federal District's 16 boroughs (delegaciones) were won by PRD candidates; in the 2006 election, that figure rose to 14.
In the 2000 presidential election the Alianza por México (the "Alliance for Mexico", comprising the PRD and four smaller parties) candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano won 16.6% of the popular vote and 15 seats in the Senate. Three years later in the 2003 legislative elections the party won 17.6% of the popular vote and 95 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
[edit] Video Scandals
The party had enjoyed a reputation of honesty unmatched by its competitors until the "Video Escándalos" (Video Scandals), a series of videos where notable party members were taped receiving cash funds or betting large sums of money in a Las Vegas casino. Party members who were seen on the video tapes were expelled from the party, but those who were supposedly associated are still active members.
Later, a second video appered, where Carlos Ahumada states that members of the PRI and PAN were planning the situation presented in the first video as part of a plot against Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to get him away as possible presidential candidate.
[edit] Recent History
The former mayor of Mexico City, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, was the presidential candidate for the "Coalición por el Bien de Todos" (Coalition for the Good of All) in the 2006 Presidential Elections. After the general election of July 2, 2006, and a recount of only 9.09% of all the ballot tally sheets, the Federal Electoral Institute recorded the vote results in favor of Felipe Calderon by a margin of 0.58 percent. However, PRD claims that there was election fraud. The claims of election fraud have been rejected by the Federal Electoral Tribunal (TEPJF), which considered these "notably inadmissible" ("notoriamente improcedente") and certified PAN candidate Felipe Calderon Hinojosa as the winner. The PRD, meanwhile, has called for demonstrations and set up camps in the capital's main square and blockading one of its main avenues (Paseo de la Reforma) to ask for a recount of all votes. The camps were later dismantled and Obrador was declared "Legitimate President" by his followers and does not recognize the legitimacy of Calderon.
