Alternative Democratic Pole

Alternative Democratic Pole
Polo Democrático Alternativo
PresidentAlexander López Maya
Senate leaderIván Cepeda Castro
FoundedDecember 2005 (2005-12)
Dissolved3 December 2025 (2025-12-03)
Merger ofIndependent Democratic Pole
Democratic Alternative
Merged intoHistoric Pact
HeadquartersBogotá, Colombia
Youth wingPolo Jóven
IdeologySocial democracy
Democratic socialism
Progressivism
Protectionism

Camilism
Political positionLeft-wing
National affiliationHistoric Pact for Colombia (from 2021)
Regional affiliationSão Paulo Forum
Colours  Yellow
Website
www.polodemocratico.net

The Alternative Democratic Pole (Spanish: Polo Democrático Alternativo, PDA) was a left-wing, democratic socialist and camilist political party in Colombia, active from 2005 to 2025. In 2022 it was successful at the polls and formed the Government of Colombia as part of the Historic Pact for Colombia.

It was founded as a political alliance of the Independent Democratic Pole (PDI) and the Democratic Alternative (AD) in December 2005. Both parties opposed the neoliberal economic program, securitization and militarization of Colombia under then-President Álvaro Uribe. Subsequently, it was the only parliamentary party to declare opposition to the government of Juan Manuel Santos, and then joined the opposition against the government of Ivan Duque.

As of 2009, a considerable number of PDA politicians were still former guerrilla fighters who gave up armed struggle and demobilized during the late 1980s and early 1990s. And by 2012, a considerable part of PDA politicians including the former guerrilla fighters were more aligned with the Green Party, the Movimiento Progresistas, or Marcha Patriótica, than the PDA.