The Solidarity Encounter Party (, PES) is a state-level

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology, ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. The party president is Hugo Eric Flores Cervantes. It is supposed to be the functional replacement for the

Social Encounter Party Social Encounter Party (, PES) was a Mexican conservative political party established on the national level in 2014 and dissolved in 2018. It was part of the coalition ''Juntos Haremos Historia'' with the National Regeneration Movement and Mexi ...

, a Christian-oriented,

social conservative Social conservatism is a political philosophy and a variety of conservatism which places emphasis on traditional social structures over social pluralism. Social conservatives organize in favor of duty, traditional values and social institu ...

party which lost its registration after failing to attract sufficient vote share in the 2018 general election.

History

In 2018, the

, in its second federal election, ran as part of the ''

Juntos Haremos Historia Juntos Haremos Historia () was a Mexican political coalition encompassing the National Regeneration Movement (MORENA), Labor Party (Mexico), Labor Party (PT), and Social Encounter Party (PES), the latter of which was consequently absorbed into th ...

'' alliance with the

National Regeneration Movement The National Regeneration Movement (), commonly referred to by its syllabic abbreviation Morena (), is a major left-wing political party in Mexico, often described as oscillating between social democracy and populism. As of 2023, it is the la ...

(MORENA) and Labor Party (PT). However, despite the alliance electing the winning presidential candidate—

Andrés Manuel López Obrador Andrés Manuel López Obrador (; born 13 November 1953), also known by his initials AMLO, is a Mexican former politician, political scientist, public administrator and writer who served as the 65th president of Mexico from 2018 to 2024. He se ...

—and the PES winning 35 seats in the

Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...

and seven in the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

, its standalone performance was poor. The PES itself failed to attract three percent of the vote in the elections for president, federal deputies, and senators, which under Mexican law prompted the loss of its federal registry and the appointment of a liquidator by the

Instituto Nacional Electoral The Instituto Nacional Electoral (INE) (Spanish for ''National Electoral Institute'') (formerly Federal Electoral Institute) (, IFE) is an autonomous, public agency responsible for organizing federal elections in Mexico, that is, those relat ...

(INE) to dispose of the national party's assets. The Social Encounter Party challenged the result and lost, leading to its dissolution on September 3, 2018. In March 2019, the

TEPJF The Electoral Tribunal of the Federal Judiciary ( or ) is a venue within the judiciary of Mexico specializing in electoral matters. Among its functions are resolving disputes arising within federal elections and certifying the validity of th ...

rendered a final verdict upholding the party's dissolution. Hours later, Hugo Eric Flores Cervantes announced the registration of a new national political group under the name ''Partido Encuentro Solidario'', using the same initials and relying on the political infrastructure and party base developed by its now-defunct predecessor. State- and district-level assemblies were held throughout 2019 and early 2020 to meet the federal registration requirements, with 263 district assemblies having taken place by November 2019. Despite meeting the registration requirements, concern arose at the INE about the open participation of 15 registered religious ministers in six district assemblies and Christian organizations, barred from political activity under the law. The result was a marathon session of the INE's General Council on September 5, 2020, which resulted in the board approving the registration of the new PES as a political party on a 6–5 vote; the majority voted to annul only the relevant assemblies, which still left the party over the minimum requirements of members and assemblies.

Lorenzo Córdova Vianello Lorenzo Córdova Vianello (born 6 February 1972) is a Mexican academic who was the Director of the Instituto Nacional Electoral. Career On 3 April 2014, the Chamber of Deputies elected Córdova as the presiding counselor of the National Elec ...

, the head of the institute, called the involvement of religious ministers in party events "a direct and grave violation of the

Constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

". INE councilor Ciro Murayama expressed dismay at the vote, highlighting that the

secular state is an idea pertaining to secularity, whereby a state is or purports to be officially neutral in matters of religion, supporting neither religion nor irreligion. A secular state claims to treat all its citizens equally regardless of relig ...

had been damaged and "the legacy of enitoJuárez emerges damaged" from the decision. The party's registration was ratified by the TEPJF after it denied a challenge by the National Action Party to the INE decision on a 6–1 vote in October 2020. In the

2021 Mexican legislative election Legislative elections were held in Mexico on 6 June 2021. Voters elected 500 deputies (300 in single-member constituencies by first-past-the-post and 200 by proportional representation) to sit in the Chamber of Deputies for the 65th Congress. Th ...

, PES achieved less than the 3% of the vote needed to keep its registry as a valid national party, so it lost its registry once again, as it previously did under the guise of the Social Encounter Party. The party lost its official national registration on August 30, 2021. It maintains registration in some states for subnational elections.

References

{{Main Mexican political parties 2020 establishments in Mexico 2021 disestablishments in Mexico Conservative parties in Mexico Defunct political parties in Mexico Political parties established in 2020 Political parties disestablished in 2021 Right-wing parties in Mexico