Former President Ernesto Perez Balladares announced Monday his candidacy for the post of secretary-general of Panama’s main opposition Revolutionary Democratic Party, or PRD, which has lost two successive presidential elections.

“This candidacy aims to reorient our dialogue with society, to rectify some mistakes, to reunify our forces, and to have a party primed and ready for the 2019 electoral contest,” Perez Balladares, who governed from 1994-1999, told a press conference.

The PRD, founded in 1979 by Panama’s then-strongman, the late Omar Torrijos, is currently accepting bids from candidates for seats on its national executive committee.

Roughly 4,200 delegates representing the PRD rank-and-file will choose among the candidates at their national convention in October.

“I believe the party lost its way at some point and has not defined a clear direction”, Perez Balladares said. “And that, along with the internal fights and divisions, has led us to two electoral defeats.”

Perez Balladares leads a slate of candidates that includes current PRD president Benicio Robinson, Carlos Perez Herrera and controversial businessman Ali Waked.

With 475,422 registered members, the PRD is Panama’s largest political party, but though it won a plurality of congressional seats in 2014, the party’s grip on the legislature has weakened.

“I have a responsibility before history and my conscience to try and revive this social movement,” Perez Balladares said Monday.

The position of PRD secretary-general is seen as a springboard to the party’s presidential nomination.