Liberal Democratic Party (Chile, 1893)

The Liberal Democratic Party (Spanish: Partido Liberal Democrático, PLD), also called Balmacedists, was a liberal party in Chile. It was one of the main actors of the Chilean parliamentary system from 1891 to 1925.^[1]

Liberal Democratic Party Partido Liberal Democrático
Founded	5 November 1893
Dissolved	1933
Split from	Liberal Party
Merged into	Liberal Party
Headquarters	Santiago
Ideology	Balmacedism Liberalism
Political position	Centre
Politics of Chile Political parties Elections

Liberal Democratic Party or balmacedist 1893–1933

Party constitution published in 1894

The Liberal Democratic Party or balmacedist was formed on 5 November 1893 during a convention in Talca. It assembled former supporters of president José Manuel Balmaceda. Its party platform was a return to a strong presidency like those previous to the 1891 Chilean Civil War.

The LDP would split into the LDP-Aliancist, supporters of Arturo Alessandri and the LDP-Unionist, the opposers to Alessandri. It lasted until 1930, when it merged into the United Liberal Party. After the downfall of president Carlos Ibáñez in 1931 it rearranged as an independent party before finally merging into the Liberal Party in 1933.

Results in parliamentary elections

Year of elections (parliament seats)	Number of members of the parliament	Votes members of the parliament
1894 (94)	22	n/d
1897 (94)	22	n/d
1900 (94)	22	n/d
1903 (94)	27	n/d
1906 (94)	20	n/d
1909 (94)	15	n/d
1912 (118)	27	n/d
1915 (118)	21	n/d
1918 (118)	15	n/d
1921 (118)	8	n/d
1924 (118)	9	n/d
1932 (142)	1	1.086 (0.5%)

Presidential candidates

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

• 1896: Vicente Reyes (lost)
• 1901: Germán Riesco (won)
• 1906: Fernando Lazcano (lost)
• 1910: Ramón Barros Luco (won)
• 1915: Juan Luis Sanfuentes (won)
• 1920: Arturo Alessandri (won), Luis Barros Borgoño (lost)
• 1925: Emiliano Figueroa (won)
• 1927: none
• 1931: Arturo Alessandri (lost)
• 1932: Enrique Zañartu Prieto (lost)

See also

• Category:Liberal Democratic Party (Chile, 1893) politicians
• Liberal Party (Chile, 1849–1966)
• Liberal Democratic Party (Chile, 1875-1886)
• Liberalism and radicalism in Chile

References

1. Alejandro San Francisco (2003). "La Gran Convención del Partido Liberal Democrático en 1893. Un hito en la reorganización del balmacedismo después de la Guerra Civil chilena de 1891". Historia (Santiago) (in Spanish). Historia. Volumen 36. Universidad Católica: 333–377.