Christian Democratic Party (Peru)
The Christian Democratic Party, formerly known as Christian Democracy, is a political party in Peru, founded in 1956 by Héctor Cornejo Chávez.
Not having participated in national politics since 1990, the party is currently not registered at the National Jury of Elections to formally participate in present election cycles.
Development
The DC had its roots in the government of José Bustamante y Rivero who was overthrown in 1948 by Manuel A. Odría although it did not emerge as an organised political party until 1956 when it was one of a number of populist parties formed following Odria's announcement of a new democracy.The new party gained seats in both houses in the 1956 elections and initially they only concentrated their efforts on the Congress rather than running for the Presidency. A change in policy followed in 1962 when Cornejo was a candidate for the Presidency but he only managed 2.88% of the vote and the party was eliminated from Congress.
As a result of this failure and the coup that overthrew Manuel Prado Ugarteche, the DC threw in their lot with the Popular Action and as such returned to Congress in 1963 as junior partners in the coalition supporting new President Fernando Belaúnde Terry. The party returned to government as a junior partner in APRA-led government of Alan García, remaining in office until 1990.