The Party of the Democratic Revolution (in Spanish: Partido de la Revolución Democrática, PRD) is one of the three main political parties in Mexico.
Founded in Mexico City on May 5, 1989 by Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano, Heberto Castillo, Gilberto Rincón Gallardo, Porfirio Muñoz Ledo, and other leading PRI or left-wing politicians, it was proclaimed to be the party of the 6 de julio (July 6), referring to the date of Mexico's 1988 presidential election. On that date, it is alleged that Cárdenas, the candidate of a coalition of center-left parties (the Frente Democrático Nacional) won the election but was denied victory by fraudulent means. Victory was instead given to the PRI candidate, Carlos Salinas de Gortari. Cárdenas was a prominent PRI member who had sought the PRI nomination but lost out to Salinas; he left to create his own party so he could compete in the election, taking several PRI members left with him. To date, most of the party's prominent members are PRI defectors, with the notable exception of Amalia García.
The party traces its pedigree to the Partido Comunista Mexicano (PCM, the Communist Party of Mexico), Partido Socialista Unificado de México (PSUM, the Unified Socialist Party of Mexico), and the Partido Mexicano Socialista (PMS, the Mexican Socialist Party). The PMS donated its registration with the Federal Electoral Commission (CFE) to enable the new party to be established. A large number of defectors from the PRI also swelled the PRD's ranks.
In the presidential elections on the 2nd of July 2000, the PRD's candidate Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano won 16.6% of the popular vote. In the senatorial elections of the same date, the party took part in the Alliance for Mexico, winning 15 out of 128 seats in the Senate of Mexico. Three years later at the last legislative elections, the party won 17.6% of the popular vote and 95 out of 500 seats in the Chamber of Deputies.
The PRD has a strong electoral presence in central and southern Mexico. The party has won gubernatorial races in several states including Guerrero, Chiapas, Michoacán, Zacatecas, Baja California Sur. 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 borough mayoral races (jefes delegacionales) were won by PRD candidates.
The PRD enjoyed a reputation of honesty unmatched by its competitors but this was shattered with the 2004-2005 Videoscandals, a string of corruption scandals in Mexico City where notable party members were taped receiving cash funds or betting large sums of money in a Las Vegas casino. In the previous years their image of electoral fairness also suffered, where they were forced to repeat the election of the party leader due to the high number of irregularities. Since it originated from PRI defectors and different left-wing parties the PRD fostered inter-party groups and power struggles, contributing to the party's reputation for internal bickering.
The former head of the Mexico City government, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, is a presidential precandidate for the 2006 presidential elections and is considered one of the favorites.
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