Social Christian Party
Partido Social Cristiano
AbbreviationPSC
LeaderJaime Nebot
PresidentAlfredo Serrano
FoundersCamilo Ponce Enríquez
Sixto Durán Ballén
Founded13 November 1951 (1951-11-13)
HeadquartersGuayaquil
Youth wingLa Cantera de la 6
Membership (2022)161,669[1]
Ideology
Political positionCenter-right to center-left[2]
International affiliationInternational Democrat Union[3]
Regional affiliationUnion of Latin American Parties[4]
Colors  Gold
  Red
Seats in the National Assembly
14 / 137
Provincial Prefects
8 / 137
Mayors
73 / 221
Website
http://la6.org/

The Social Christian Party (Spanish: Partido Social Cristiano; PSC) is a centre-right to centre-left political party in Ecuador.[2][5]

The party was founded in 1951 under the name of Social Christian Movement (Movimiento Social Cristiano) by Camilo Ponce Enríquez, who was Ecuador's president from 1956 to 1960, and Sixto Durán Ballén. It was initially focused on Quito. Since the 1980s, however, the party's popularity is more present on the coastal areas, particularly around Ecuador's economic center and most populous city, Guayaquil, and in coastal provinces, such as Guayas, El Oro, Los Rios, and Manabi, which constitute about half of the country's population. However, as a sign of deep regional divide on politics, the party has little power in the Andean region. Thus, while holding all major positions in Guayas and Guayaquil, the PSC has not held the presidential office since the presidency of León Febres Cordero (1984–88).

In 1978, the party's centrist and leftist wing split-off to form the centre Popular Democracy party under Osvaldo Hurtado, who was the country's president from 1981 to 1984. After Febres Cordero's faction inside the PSC succeeded in appointing Jaime Nebot as the party's presidential candidate, Sixto Durán Ballén and his supporters left the party to form the more right-wing Republican Union.[6] Eventually, Durán was elected president for the period 1992–1996. Nebot was the party's presidential candidate again in 1996. He won first place in the first round with 28% of the vote, but lost in the runoff with 46% of the vote to Abdalá Bucaram.

The PSC candidate, Xavier Neira, won 12.2 percent of the vote in the 2002 presidential election. Its candidate in the 2006 presidential election was Cynthia Viteri. She garnered 9.91 percent of the overall votes cast and failed to enter into the second round of runoff voting. Neira and Viteri both came in 5th place. At the 2006 legislative elections, the party won 13 of the 100 seats, much less than last period.

After León Febres Cordero's death, Jaime Nebot took over the leadership of the party, and split it into a coalition with his provincial brother party called "Madera de Guerrero", an allusion to a song of the folklore of Guayaquil with the same name. This coalition is the third force in the National Assembly (parliament). For the 2021 general elections, the party teamed up with Creating Opportunities with Guillermo Lasso and Lasso was ultimately elected in the run-off against Correrista ally Andrés Arauz.

For the 2023 Ecuadorian general election, the PSC supported the candidacy of Jan Topić.[7] For the second round, the party announced they will support the candidacy of Daniel Noboa, because the party "has never supported Correism".[8]

Electoral results

National Assembly elections

Election Leader Votes % Seats +/–
1979 Sixto Durán-Ballén 123,411 8.58
3 / 69
 New
1984 361,755 17.85
9 / 70
 Increase 6
1988 León Febres Cordero 310,950 11.25
8 / 72
 Decrease 1
1992 753,452 23.39
21 / 77
 Increase 13
1996 1,069,977 30.40
27 / 82
 Increase 6
1998 839,567 23.80
28 / 121
 Increase 1
2002 823,442 21.49
24 / 100
 Decrease 4
2006 477,804 15.29
13 / 100
 Decrease 11
2009 Jaime Nebot 8,559,831 13.28
11 / 124
 Decrease 2
2013 7,901,315 8.99
6 / 137
 Decrease 5
2017 1,295,768 15.90
15 / 137
 Increase 9
2021 780,541 9.73
18 / 137
 Increase 3
2023 996,206 11.90
14 / 137
 Decrease 4

    Constituent Assembly elections

    Election Votes % Party leader Seats +/–
    2007 León Febres Cordero 156,840 3.88
    5 / 130
    		 New

    References

    1. ↑ https://www.primicias.ec/noticias/politica/millones-ecuatorianos-afiliados-partidos-movimientos/
    2. 1 2 "El PSC ya no es visto como un partido de derecha". Diario La Hora. 12 May 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
    3. ↑ "Members | International Democrat Union". February 2018.
    4. ↑ "Partidos Miembros".
    5. ↑ Partido Social Cristiano, Ecuador. Quienes somos. Consultado el 12 de diciembre de 2023.
    6. ↑ Morrisson, Christian, ed. (1994), The Political Feasibility of Adjustment in Ecuador and Venezuela, OECD Publications Centre, p. 44
    7. ↑ https://www.larepublica.ec/blog/2023/05/21/el-psc-no-lanzara-candidato-y-apoyara-a-jan-topic/
    8. ↑ https://www.primicias.ec/noticias/elecciones-presidenciales-2023/psc-apoyo-daniel-noboa-segunda-vuelta/
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