Editing Alternative Democratic Pole (section)

==Political development==
The PDI and AD initially had their own pre-candidates for the 2006 presidential race. PDI had nominated [[Antonio Navarro Wolff|Antonio Navarro]] (former leader of [[19th of April Movement|M-19]]) and AD had nominated [[Carlos Gaviria]].

In a primary election held on March 12, 2006, Gaviria won the presidential nomination of the PDA.

In the simultaneous [[2006 Colombian parliamentary election|legislative elections of 2006]], the party won 9 out of 166 Deputies and 11 out of 100 senators.

At the [[2006 Colombian presidential election|presidential elections]] of 28 May 2006, [[Carlos Gaviria]] came second with 22.04% of the vote, 2,613,157 votes.<ref>National Registry of Civil State, results of the 2006 presidential election. http://www.registraduria.gov.co/resprelec2006/0528/index.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718023257/http://www.registraduria.gov.co/resprelec2006/0528/index.htm |date=2011-07-18 }}</ref> This was the highest ever result for a left-wing candidate in Colombia's history.<ref name="Rochlin"/> Thus, the party replaced the long-standing Liberal Party as the country's second force and main opposition party.<ref name="TayBotCri"/>

After the election, the PDA was successful in gaining the support of groups representing the indigenous movement affiliated with the coalition.<ref name="iwgia"/> The guerrilla group [[National Liberation Army (Colombia)|National Liberation Army]] (ELN) (at its fourth national congress) commented favorably on the PDA's electoral performance and declared that political action should take precedence over armed struggle.<ref>{{Citation |first=León |last=Valencia |title=The ELN's Halting Moves toward Peace |work=Colombia: Building Peace in a Time of War |agency=United States Institute of Peace |year=2009 |page=99}}</ref> PDA's own founding doctrine repudiates armed guerilla politics: "We oppose war and the exercise of violence as means of political action".<ref>{{cite web|last1=Partido|first1=Polo Democrático Alternativo|title=Ideario de Unidad|url=http://www.polodemocratico.net/index.php/nuestro-partido/ideario-de-unidad|access-date=2015-04-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415161924/http://www.polodemocratico.net/index.php/nuestro-partido/ideario-de-unidad|archive-date=2015-04-15|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Later the PDA further consolidated its organization and gained support on a local level.<ref>{{Citation |first=Rex A. |last=Hudson |title=Colombia: A country study |edition=Fifth |publisher=Library of Congress Federal Research Division |year=2010 |page=xli}}</ref> In October 2007, the PDA's candidate, [[Samuel Moreno Rojas]] won the mayoral election in Colombia's capital [[Bogotá]].<ref name="xxvi">{{Citation |first=Rex A. |last=Hudson |title=Colombia: A country study |edition=Fifth |publisher=Library of Congress Federal Research Division |year=2010 |page=xxvi}}</ref>

In the [[2010 Colombian parliamentary election|2010 congressional election]], PDA's support declined. It won 7.8% of votes and 8 of 100 seats in the Senate, and 5.9% of the vote and 4 of 164 seats in the House of Representatives, demoting it to the sixth rank among parliamentary parties. Before the election, a faction of the PDA had split off and joined the [[Green Party (Colombia)|Green Party]].<ref>{{Citation |first=Harvey F. |last=Kline |title=Historical Dictionary of Colombia |publisher=Scarecrow Press |year=2012 |page=404}}</ref>

[[Clara López Obregón|Clara Lopez]] was the party's candidate for the [[2014 Colombian presidential election|2014 presidential election]];<ref>{{cite news |title=Clara López es la candidata a la Presidencia por el Polo Democrático |newspaper=El Tiempo |location=Bogotá, Colombia |url=http://www.eltiempo.com/archivo/documento/CMS-12368988 |date=November 9, 2012 |access-date=March 1, 2014|language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Clara López, candidata del Polo para presidenciales de 2014 |newspaper=El Espectador |location=Bogotá, Colombia |url=http://www.elespectador.com/noticias/politica/clara-lopez-candidata-del-polo-presidenciales-de-2014-articulo-386158 |date=November 9, 2012 |access-date=March 1, 2014|language=es}}</ref> she placed fourth in the first round of the election, receiving 1,958,414 votes, representing 15.23%.<ref>{{cite web |title=Resolución No. 10368: Por la cual se establece el calendario Electoral para las elecciones de Presidente y Vicepresidente de la República (primera vuelta) para el período Constitucional 2014–2018 |url=http://www.registraduria.gov.co/IMG/pdf/res_10368.pdf |publisher=Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil |date=October 10, 2013 |access-date=March 1, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131208161853/http://www.registraduria.gov.co/IMG/pdf/res_10368.pdf |archive-date=December 8, 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

For the [[2022 Colombian presidential election|2022 presidential]] and [[2022 Colombian parliamentary election|parliamentary election]], the party joined forces with other left-wing and centre-left parties to form the [[Historic Pact for Colombia]] (Spanish PHxC) alliance, whose candidates [[Gustavo Petro]] and PDA member [[Francia Márquez]], were victorious in the second round of the presidential election, making them the first leftists to assume the Presidency and Vice-Presidency in Colombian history. In the parliamentary elections, PHxC candidates, including PDA members, won the most votes in both the Chamber of Representatives and Senatorial elections; in both chambers seats are awarded by [[Elections in Colombia|proportional representation]].