Reformist Democratic Party

It was founded in 1920 by Augusto Bernardino Leguía y Salcedo, whose regime, which began the previous year, had led to a dictatorial government.

It was a party with a strong personal character, whose members included the friends and relatives of President Leguía, as well as many public employees.

The former president Augusto B. Leguía returned to Peru and launched his candidacy, supported by the Constitutional Party, whose leader was General Andrés Avelino Cáceres.

He proposed a series of reforms grouped around the idea of a "New Homeland", thus obtaining the support of a people hit by the social and economic crisis and who longed for such a change, after the failure of the civilistas.

But claiming that his victory was not going to be recognized by the civilista government, Leguía staged a coup d'état on July 4, 1919, supported by the gendarmerie.

One of the first tasks of said Assembly was to count the votes of the previous presidential elections, after which it ratified Leguía as the winner, who was proclaimed Constitutional President on October 12, 1919.

The party statutes were drawn up by Germán Leguía y Martínez, and were published in the official gazette El Peruano.

As such, he had carried out the arduous task of ensuring presidential absolutism, committing a series of outrages: he flouted judicial rulings, expropriated the newspaper La Prensa, ignored the parliamentary jurisdiction, persecuted and imprisoned or exiled the enemies of the regime.