Justicialist Party
Partido Justicialista |
|
---|---|
President | José Luis Gioja |
General Secretary | |
Senate leader | Miguel Pichetto |
Chamber leader | |
Founder | Juan Perón |
Founded | 1947 |
Merger of |
Labour Party |
Headquarters | 130 Matheu Street Buenos Aires |
Youth wing | |
Membership (2012) | 3,626,728 |
Ideology | Peronism |
Political position | Big tent |
National affiliation | Front for Victory |
International affiliation | Centrist Democrat International |
Regional affiliation | Christian Democrat Organization of America |
Colors | Light blue, White |
Seats in the Senate |
40 / 72
|
Seats in the Chamber of Deputies |
96 / 257
|
Province Governors |
12 / 24
|
Website | |
www |
|
The Justicialist Party (Spanish: Partido Justicialista, IPA: [parˈtiðo xustisjaˈlista]), or PJ, is a Peronist political party in Argentina, and the largest component of the Peronist movement.
The party was led by Néstor Kirchner, President of Argentina from 2003 to 2007, until his death on October 27, 2010. Former presidents Carlos Menem, Eduardo Duhalde, and Cristina Fernández de Kirchner are members. Justicialists have, covering nearly the entire period since 1989, been the largest party in the Congress.
The Justicialist Party is the largest party in the Congress; however, this does not reflect the divisions within the party over the role of Kirchnerism, the left-wing faction of the party. While dissident Peronists, the right-wing faction of the party is in opposition with other parties.
The Justicialist Party was founded in 1947 by Juan and Evita Perón, and superseded the Labour Party on which Perón had been elected a year earlier. Following the enactment of women's right to vote in 1948, a Peronist Women's Party, led by the First Lady, was also established. All Peronist entities were banned from elections after 1955, when the Revolución Libertadora overthrew Perón, and civilian governments' attempt to lift Peronism's ban from legislative and local elections in 1962 and 1965 resulted in military coups.
Basing itself on the policies espoused by Juan Perón as president of Argentina, the party's platform has from its inception centered around populism, and its most consistent base of support has historically been the CGT, Argentina's largest trade union. Perón ordered the mass nationalization of public services, strategic industries, and the critical farm export sector, while enacting progressive labor laws and social reforms, and accelerating public works investment.