Spanish Democratic Socialist Party

The Spanish Democratic Socialist Party (Spanish: Partido Socialista Democrático Español, abbreviation PSDE) was a political party in Spain, active during the transition to democracy. The party was founded in 1975.[3] The party sought to establish a democratic constitution in Spain.[4] Antonio García López was the general secretary of the party.[3][4][5]

Spanish Democratic Socialist Party Partido Socialista Democrático Español
President	José M. Martínez de la Pedraja
Secretary-General	Antonio García López
Founded	1975
Dissolved	7 April 1978 (1978-04-07)[1][2]
Headquarters	Madrid
Youth wing	Democratic Socialist Youth
Ideology	Social democracy
Politics of Spain Political parties Elections

Political line

PSDE was formed following a split in the Spanish Social Democratic Union (USDE) of Dionisio Ridruejo.[4][6] The party had an anti-Marxist position, adhering to the social democratic line of Ridruejo.[7][8] García López sympathized with the Godesberg Program of the Social Democratic Party of Germany.[9] He (albeit supporting legalization of the Communist Party of Spain) rejected any form of alliance with the communists. Moreover, he rejected the 'monopolization' of the socialist movement by the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE).[10]

Leadership

The party was led by a National Commission.[11] García López had been the vice chairman of USDE, before the death of Ridruejo.[6] García López had also belonged to PSOE and had argued for an anti-Marxist position within that party. In PSOE García López had been booed by the delegates at the party congress in Suresnes.[12] García López was accused of being a CIA agent, a fact that made other groups suspicious of PSDE.[13] José M. Martínez de la Pedraja served as the PSDE party chairman.[4][14] Jesús Prados Arrarte was the first vice president of the party.[15] Ana María Pérez del Campo, vice president of the Association of Separated Women, also served as vice party president.[16] Manuel Gómez Reino was the assistant general secretary of the party.[17]

History

Legalization

In early 1976 a group in Valencia broke away from PSDE and formed the Unified Democratic Socialist Party (PSDU).[18] In the summer of 1976 the Valencia-based Labour Party merged into the PSDE.[19] In August 1976 the PSDE founded the Sindicato Democrático de Ganaderos Montañeses, an agrarian union headed by Martínez de la Pedraja, in Santander.[14] On September 11, 1976 PSDE submitted an application for legal registration as a political party to the General Director of Interior Politics. The application was drafted following a meeting between the party and the president of the Government.[20] PSDE was legally registered on October 4, 1976.[1]

Alliances

In late 1976 PSDE entered into coalition talks with the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (historic) (PSOE(H)) and Spanish Social Reform (RSE).[21] The three parties formed the Democratic Socialist Alliance.[22] In November 1976 workers from PSDE and RSE joined the PSOE(H) trade union, Unión General de Trabajadores (sector histórico) (UGT(H)).[8] In February 1977 PSDE, PSOE(H), RSE and the Social Democratic Federation (FSD) formed a new alliance, the Centre-Left Electoral Union.[23][24][25] In April 1977 PSDE and PSOE(H) jointly founded the Democratic Socialist Youth.[26]

On May 3, 1977 PSDE and PSOE(H) formalized the constitution of the Democratic Socialist Alliance. FSD had left the Centre-Left Electoral Union, and RSE was expelled from the Democratic Socialist Alliance due to differences with PSOE(H).[22] RSE did however closely association with the alliance, but contested the elections with separate candidatures.[27]

In the words of García López the Democratic Socialist Alliance was an embryo of a united Spanish socialist party.[28] Ahead of the elections, García López traveled to Brussels to negotiate for support for the Democratic Socialist Alliance from the European socialist movement.[28]

Defections from the party

In February 1977, the vice presidents Pérez del Campo and Prados Arrarte left the party.[16][29] Another prominent PSDE to leave the party was Ulpiano Sánchez Vilchez, vice president of the Madrid organization of PSDE.[30]

1977 elections

In the 1977 general election the Democratic Socialist Alliance obtained 101,916 votes (0.56% of the national vote). PSDE ran a separate list in Santander, where the party obtained 3,786 votes (1,48% of the votes in that province).[31][32][33] Towards the end of June 1977 the leaderships of both PSDE and PSOE(H) declared that the Democratic Socialist Alliance had been dissolved.[11][34]

References

1. Heras, Raúl. Enciclopedia política y atlas electoral de la democracia española. Madrid: Temas de Hoy, 1997. p. 428
2. Archivo Linz de la Transición española (2013). "Partido Socialista Democrático Español". Tesauro - Instituciones (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 August 2013.
3. Elvert, Jürgen, and Sylvain Schirmann. Zeiten Im Wandel: Deutschland Im Europa Des 20. Jh. : Kontinuität, Entwicklungen, Und Brüche = Tiempos De Cambio : Alemania En La Europa Del Siglo XX : Continuidad, Evolución Y Ruptura = Changing Times : Germany in 20th-Century Europe : Continuity, Evolution, and Breakdowns. Bruxelles: P.I.E. Peter Lang, 2008. p. 153
4. Monroy, Juan Antonio. Obras completas. Tomo I-Tomo X Terrassa: Clie, 1998. p. 53
5. Espadas Burgos, Manuel, and José Luis Comellas. Historia general de España y América. T. 19-2. Madrid: Rialp, 1987. p. 498
6. Revista de estudios políticos, Eds. 135–136. Instituto de Estudios Políticos, 2007. p. 193
7. Fernández de Castro, Ignacio. De las Cortes de Cádiz al posfranquismo (1808-1980). Barcelona: Ediciones 2001, 1981. p. 571
8. El País. Partidos antimarxistas incrementan la UGT (histórica)
9. Fundación Juan March. En la socialdemocracia quieren ahora salvarse muchos del antiguo Régimen
10. El País. Nuevos intentos hacia la unidad socialista
11. El País. Disuelta la Alianza Socialista Democrática
12. Gillespie, Richard. The Spanish Socialist Party: A History of Factionalism. Oxford [England]: Clarendon Press, 1989. p. 319
13. Mellado Morales, Juan de Dios, and Antonio Ramos Espejo. Memoria de la transición democrática en Almería. Granada: C&T Editores, 2005. p. 75
14. El País. Con asistencia
15. El País. Socialismo y socialdemocracia
16. El País. Ana María Pérez del Campo
17. El País. Reunión PNV-PSDE en San Juan de la Luz
18. El País. Dieciséis grupos integran la "Taula" valenciana
19. El País. El Partido Laborista de Valencia confirma su integración en el PSDE
20. El País. El PSDE y la asociación UDE quieren legalizarse como partidos
21. El País. Posible alianza entre PSOE (histórico), PSDE y Reforma Social
22. Fundación Juan March. Alianza Socialista Democrática
23. El País. Lasuén se une a García López Cantarero y Murillo
24. El País. La Unión Electoral de Centro Izquierda, quiere ampliarse
25. El País. Comienza la preparación de las campañas electorales
26. El País. Juventudes Socialistas Democráticas
27. El País. Otras opciones
28. El País. Apoyo europeo para Alianza Socialista Democrática
29. El País. Prados Arrarte hace efectiva su dimisión del PSDE
30. El País. Dimisiones en el PSDE
31. Ministerio del Interior. Elecciones Congreso de los Diputados Junio 1977 - Provincia: CANTABRIA Archived 2012-08-31 at the Wayback Machine
32. Fundación Juan March. Ha sido establecido el orden de la ultimas intervenciones políticas : La fijación de horas se realiza por sorteo
33. El Mundo. Así votaron los españoles el 15 de junio de 1977
34. El País. El PSOE quiere que la reforma administrativa se discuta en las Cortes

Further reading

• Rodríguez, Rafael (1977). Partido Socialista Democrático Español (in Spanish). Málaga: Lafer. ISBN 978-84-400-2751-1.