The Centrist Democrat International (CDI; Spanish: Internacional Demócrata de Centro, IDC) is an international political organization.
The CDI was founded on 30 July 1961 in Santiago, Chile, as the Christian Democrat World Union, reflecting the central role that Christian democratic parties played in its foundation. However, over the decades, the CDI has progressively expanded its identity and membership to include parties from a wide range of ideological traditions, and in 1999, it was renamed the Centrist Democrat International due to the participation of groups from other religions.
Today, it represents a broad political family committed to defending and strengthening constitutional democracy as the only viable system for guaranteeing freedom, pluralism, and social justice. To achieve this, the CDI works through its regional organizations.
The CDI's European division is the European People's Party, the largest European political party. Its African equivalent is the regional IDC.Africa, which has its own statutes aligned with the principles of the CDI. The CDI also works with think tanks such as the National Democratic Institute and the Wilfred Martens Centre (WMCES).
Contents
Timeline
December 1925: The first international gathering of Catholic-Christian democratic parties takes place in Paris, establishing the International Secretariat of Democratic Parties of Christian Inspiration (SIPDIC). Member parties were from Belgium, Germany, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Austria, Switzerland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Spain, Portugal, and Lithuania.
1939 to 1945: World War II suspends the SIPDIC.
23 April 1947: Political leaders from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay meet in Montevideo to create an international organization of Christian democratic parties. Representatives from Bolivia and Peru participate via diplomatic correspondence. The Declaration of Montevideo establishes the Organización Demócrata Cristiana de América (ODCA), although the name is not formalized until their second meeting in July 1949.
3 June 1947: European Christian Democrats form the Nouvelles Équipes Internationales (NEI) in Chaudfontaine, Belgium, prompted by the Swiss a year before restarting the SIPDIC. The NEI, open to non-Catholic parties who subscribed to the principles of social democracy, sees European integration as the best way to prevent the spread of communism into western Europe and encourages exile groups from Bulgaria, Romania, Lithuania, Hungary, Poland, Czechoslovakia, and Yugoslavia to attend. The NEI plays a significant role in preparations for the Hague Congress and the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community.
26 July 1950: The Christian Democratic Union of Central Europe (CDUCE) is formed in New York City to assist Christian democratic parties in exile by organizing forces in opposition to communism. By 1955, it begins working with underground operatives in the Soviet bloc while trying to coordinate efforts between European and Latin American Christian Democratic parties.
May and July 1956: The ODCA, NEI, and CDUCE meet for the first time in Paris at a gathering of 33 delegations from 28 countries to discuss the creation of a global Christian democratic organization.
1960: The three regional Christian democratic organizations establish the Christian Democratic International Information and Documentation Centre (CDI-IDC) in Rome to provide political analyses for Christian democratic parties around the world.
1961: The World Union of Christian Democrats (WUCD) is established in Santiago.
1982: The WUCD changes its name to the Christian Democrat International (CDI).
1999: The CDI changes its name to the Centrist Democrat International due to the increasing membership of non-Christian political parties. Since October 2000, some have informally referred to the CDI as the Christian Democrat and People's Parties International.
2021: The CDI underwent change in its legal and constitutive form, increasing its political, communicative and organisational skills.
Executive committee
The CDI Executive Committee consists of the President, Secretary-general, and Vice-Presidents. The President is Andrés Pastrana Arango, former President of Colombia and the Secretary-General is MEP Antonio López-Istúriz of Spain.
Members of the executive committee are:
Andrés Pastrana Arango (Colombia) – President
Antonio López-Istúriz (Spain) – Secretary-General
Mariana Gómez del Campo (Mexico) – Vice-President
Maria Eugenia Vidal (Argentina) – Vice-President
Antonio Brito (Brazil) – Vice-President
Juan Carlos Hidalgo (Costa Rica)- Vice-President
Alfredo Barnechea (Peru) – Vice-President
Janez Janša (Slovenia) – Vice-President
Viktor Orbán (Hungary) – Vice-President
Andrej Plenković (Croatia) – Vice-President
Sali Berisha (Albania) – Vice-President
Yara Suos (Cambodia) – Vice-President
Muhaimin Iskandar (Indonesia) – Vice-President
Samy Gemayel (Lebanon) – Vice-President
Adalberto Costa Jr. (Angola) – Vice-President
Former members
Andorra – Andorran Democratic Centre
Andorra – New Centre (Catalan: Nou Centre, NC) (until 2011)
Argentina – Justicialist Party (Spanish: Partido Justicialista, PJ) (until 2020s)
Belgium – Humanist Democratic Centre
Ecuador – Christian Democratic Union
Estonia – Pro Patria Union
France – Union for a Popular Movement
Hungary – Hungarian Democratic Forum
Italy – Union of Democrats for Europe
Nicaragua – Conservative Party
North Macedonia – Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization – People's Party
Panama – Panameñista Party
Rwanda – National Revolutionary Movement for Development
Slovakia – Slovak Democratic and Christian Union – Democratic Party
Spain – Democratic Union of Catalonia
Switzerland – Christian Democratic People's Party of Switzerland
Ukraine – Batkivshchyna
Observer parties
The IDC-CDI has 21 observers, including:
Armenia – Heritage (Armenian: Ժառանգություն)
Azerbaijan – New Azerbaijan Party (Azerbaijani: Yeni Azərbaycan Partiyası, YAP)
Belarus – Belarusian Christian Democracy (Belarusian: Беларуская хрысьціянская дэмакратыя, BKhD)
Belarus - BPF Party (Belarusian: Партыя БНФ)
Bolivia - Christian Democratic Party (Bolivia) (Spanish: Partido Demócrata Cristiano, PDC)
Bonaire - Bonaire Patriotic Union (Papiamentu: Union Patriótiko Boneriano, UPB; Dutch: Patriottische Unie van Bonaire)
Brazil – Brazilian Social Democracy Party (Brazilian Portuguese: Partido da Social Democracia Brasileira, PSDB)
Costa Rica - Social Christian Unity Party (Spanish: Partido Unidad Social Cristiana, PUSC)
Equatorial Guinea – Popular Union of Equatorial Guinea (Spanish: Partido Unión Popular, PUP)
Equatorial Guinea – Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea (Spanish: Partido Democrático de Guinea Ecuatorial, PDGE)
Honduras - Christian Democratic Party of Honduras (Spanish: Partido Demócrata Cristiano de Honduras, PDC)
Honduras – National Party of Honduras (Spanish: Partido Nacional de Honduras, PNH)