Popular Action (, AP) is a conservative, populist, and reformist political party in Peru, founded by former Peruvian president Fernando Belaúnde.

History

Early history Fernando Belaúnde founded Popular Action (Acción Popular) in 1956 as a reformist alternative to the status quo conservative forces and the populist American Popular Revolutionary Alliance party.

Although Belaúnde's message was not all that different from APRA's, his tactics were more inclusive and less confrontational. He was able to appeal to some of the same political base as APRA, primarily the middle class, but also to a wider base of professionals and white-collar workers. It also advocated scientific advancement and technocracy, a policy set that it took from the Progressive Social Movement, a splinter party which it eventually absorbed.Hugo Neira, "Peru" in JP Bernard et al., Guide to the Political Parties of South America, Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1973, p. 443 The AP had significant electoral success, attaining the presidency in 1963 and 1980, but the party was more of an electoral machine for the persona of Belaúnde than an institutionalized organization. The AP was initially reckoned as a center-left party. However, by the 1980s, Peru's political spectrum had shifted sharply leftward, and the AP found itself on the center-right.

Later years After AP's second administration, in 1985, the party was defeated by the APRA party, gaining only 6.4 percent of the vote. In 1990, AP participated in the elections as a part of the Democratic Front, a center-right coalition headed by Mario Vargas Llosa.

In 2000, Víctor Andrés García Belaúnde was selected as the presidential nominee, being the worst general election for AP, gaining only 0.42% of the popular vote. Only three AP congressman were elected. As many assume the election was a fraud, Fujimori resigned after the corruption of his government was revealed by the opposition.

AP member Valentín Paniagua would become President of the Congress in November 2000 for a few days and, after the fall of the Fujimori administration, became the interim President of the Republic, holding office from November 2000 to July 2001.

In the 8 April 2001 election, the party won 4.2% of the popular vote and three out of 120 seats in Congress.

Likewise, in 2002, regional elections were held for the first time, which aimed to elect Regional Presidents for the 25 departments of Peru. In that sense, party participation was quite high (15 political groups). In these elections, AP ranked sixth by number of votes.

For the 2006 national election, the party joined forces with We Are Peru and National Coordinator of Independents to form the Centre Front coalition. Paniagua was the presidential candidate, while the vice-presidential candidates belonged to AP's allies. The Center Front ended in the fifth place in the national election, with 5.6% of the popular vote.

For the 2011 national election, the party joined forces with We Are Peru and Possible Peru to form the Possible Peru Electoral Alliance. The presidential candidate was former Peru's president and leader of Possible Peru, Alejandro Toledo. The alliance ended in the fourth place in the national election, with 15.6% of the popular vote.

For the 2016 national election, the party ran alone for the first time since 2000, when Congressman Víctor Andrés García Belaúnde ran against the sitting president Alberto Fujimori, and it was the first time since 2006 that Popular Action participated with a party member as a presidential candidate when former President Valentín Paniagua ran for office. The presidential candidate was Alfredo Barnechea, journalist and political analyst, who won the party's primaries with 52% of the votes, defeating Mesías Guevara (40%), the party's president for the 2014–2018 term, the lawyer Beatríz Mejía (6%) and former Deputy Alejandro Montoya (2%). Popular Action ended in fourth place in the national election, with 6.97% of the popular vote. This was the best result for Popular Action since 1985. For the 2016–2021 term, AP had five congressmen out of 130 representing the party, until the snap election in 2020, when it increased its representation to 25 congressmen until the end of the 2016–2021 term. In the 2021 elections, Lescano placed 5th in a fractured race of 18 candidates while the party gained 16 seats for the 2021–2026 congressional term. On 26 July 2021, an alliance led by Popular Action member María del Carmen Alva successfully negotiated an agreement to gain control of Peru's Congress.

Ideology and position

Popular Action has been as reformist, nationalist, populist, catch all, moderate, paternalistically conservative, conservative, Catholic-based, pro-capitalist, pro-business, neoliberal, liberal, and socially liberal. It has been labeled on the political scale as centre-right, centrist, centre-left, right-wing, left-wing, and radical left.

Presidents of Peru from Popular Action

Fernando Belaúnde (1963–1968; 1980–1985) Valentín Paniagua (2000–2001) Manuel Merino (10–15 Nov. 2020)

Electoral history

Presidential Election Candidate First round Second round Result Votes % Votes % 1956 Fernando Belaúnde 457,966 36.69 1962 Fernando Belaúnde 544,180 32.21 1963 Fernando Belaúnde 708,662 39.05 1980 Fernando Belaúnde 1,793,190 44.93 1985 Javier Alva Orlandini 472,627 7.26 1990 Mario Vargas Llosa 2,163,323 32.57 2,708,291 37.62 1995 Raúl Diez Canseco 122,383 1.64 2000 Víctor Andrés García Belaúnde 46,523 0.42 2001Did not contestN/A 2006 Valentín Paniagua 706,156 5.75 2011 Alejandro Toledo 2,289,561 15.63 2016 Alfredo Barnechea 1,069,360 6.97 2021 Yonhy Lescano 1,306,288 9.07 2026Did not contestN/A

Congress of the Republic ElectionLeaderSenateChamber of DeputiesPositionGovernmentVotes%Seats+/–Votes%Seats+/–1956Fernando Belaúnde3rd1962 11 40 2nd1963 1 22 2nd19801,694,95240.92 111,413,23338.92 59 1st1985492,0568.14 21491,5818.43 88 4th19901,772,95332.06 151,561,29130.03 52 1st

Election Leader Votes % Congress +/– Rank Government1992Fernando BelaúndeBoycotted 62 19th1995146,018 3.34 4 6th2000245,1152.47 1 9th2001393,4334.18 0 7th2006Víctor Andrés García Belaúnde760,2617.07 2 5th2011Javier Alva Orlandini1,904,18014.83 1 3rd2016Mesías Guevara877,7347.20 0 6th20201,518,17110.26 20 1st20211,159,734 9.02 9 3rd

References

External links Official site Congress - Popular Action