Third Portuguese Republic
In Portuguese historiography, the third republic is understood to mean the time from the Carnation Revolution in 1974 until today. The first republic is the period from the abolition of the monarchy in 1910 to the military coup of General Gomes da Costa in 1926, the second republic is the authoritarian Estado Novo (1933–1974).
1926–1974: Prehistory
In Portugal, after the failure of the first Portuguese republic in 1926 following a military coup, an increasingly authoritarian corporate state with fascist features, the Estado Novo (New State), established itself. It was initially led by its creator, Prime Minister Salazar . He was succeeded by Marcelo Caetano , since he was no longer able to govern from 1968 for health reasons . When the Estado Novo became increasingly entangled in domestic political problems and contradictions and, in terms of foreign policy, in an unprofitable colonial war with the independence-striving Portuguese colonies in Africa , the Caetano government was overthrown in a largely bloodless coup of young officers in 1974. Large sections of the population showed solidarity with them. This uprising went down in Portuguese history as the Carnation Revolution ( Portuguese : Revolução dos Cravos or simply 25 de Abril ) and marked the beginning of the third republic.
1974–1976: Groups immediately after the Carnation Revolution
The days immediately after the Carnation Revolution were initially days of celebration. The joy prevailed that the dictatorship had been overthrown largely bloodlessly after 48 years. Well-known politicians in exile returned to Portugal ( Álvaro Cunhal , Mário Soares ), and the mass rally on May 1st was an impressive testimony to the freedoms that were regained.
It soon became apparent, however, that the revolutionaries were mainly held together by their mutual opposition to the old system. Now that this system had fallen, the differences between the views of the new rulers became apparent. The revolution was particularly supported by a group of young officers, the Movimento das Forças Armadas (MFA), the movement of the armed forces . Within this group there were already different political currents. While the more radical wing, led by Captain Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho , wanted to move towards radical socialism , a more moderate wing was formed under Ernesto Melo Antunes . To secure its uprising, the MFA also sought the support of conservative sections of the army, represented by the former Supreme Command General Francisco da Costa Gomes and his deputy General António de Spínola . Shortly before the Carnation Revolution, both had been dismissed by the Caetano government for criticizing government policy.
In this way three large groups were formed, with all three currents having their supporters in both the military and civil society :
- the Conservatives : within the army, this group was led by Costa Gomes, Spínola and within the MFA by Melo Antunes. The monocle wearer Spínola was the personification of conservative ideas. Within civil society, this group consisted primarily of politicians who had already been politically active during the Estado Novo within the then existing unity party , the ANP , where they formed a group that advocated cautious reforms and, after the Carnation Revolution, called them saw that the Ancien Régime could not be reformed, had sided with its opponents. Representatives of this group were e.g. B. the later Prime Ministers Francisco Sá Carneiro and Francisco Pinto Balsemão ;
- the moderate socialists , who advocated a social democratic course, represented by the Socialist Party and its leader Mário Soares, and finally
- the extreme left , who wanted to transform Portugal into a socialist country with either a state socialist economic system or council democratic structures, within the army and the MFA led by Captain Otelo, represented within the civilians on the one hand by the Communist Party under Álvaro Cunhal, on the other hand by several radical left and left socialists Parties.
Government Da Palma Carlos
After the military coup of 1974, a new electoral law was passed on May 14, 1974 (Law 3/74, Article 4, Number 1). According to the Decree Law No. 621-A / 74, Article 1.1 of November 15, 1974, Portuguese citizens who were 18 years of age or older on February 28, 1975 were eligible to vote for the Constituent Assembly. For the first time in Portuguese history, universal suffrage was recognized and exercised the following year: In April 1975, the members of the Constituent Assembly that drafted the 1976 constitution were elected. This was proclaimed on June 2, 1976 and thus constitutionally secured equality of women's and men 's suffrage for all elections .
Immediately after the Carnation Revolution, a provisional government, the National Salvation Front ( Junta de Salvação Nacional, JSN ) was formed; its chairman, Spínola, was declared transitional president. On May 15, 1974, he appointed Adelino da Palma Carlos as the first head of government. Da Palma Carlos, as a conservative lawyer, came towards Spínola with his political attitudes. However, he had to allow all currents to participate in his government: Sá Carneiro was minister, Soares became foreign minister and Cunhal minister without portfolio. In addition, the government did not have sole power in the country. The informal organs formed during the revolution, in particular the JSN and the MFA, continued to exist and led a life of their own alongside the government.
In the weeks following the appointment of the Da Palma Carlos government, differences of opinion deepened between Spínola and Da Palma Carlos on the one hand and the more radical elements within the MFA on the other. When asked about the future of the Portuguese colonies, it was agreed that the policy as it was practiced before the Carnation Revolution, i.e. to fight the various African liberation movements with great hardship, had failed. In March 1974, Spínola had already stated in his book “Portugal and the Future” ( Portugal eo futuro ) that Portugal could not win the war militarily and that it was wasting its resources. These statements had led to his dismissal by the Caetano government, among other things, but Spínola wanted an orderly withdrawal and hoped to be able to leave the colonies with far-reaching autonomy in some kind of special relationship with the Portuguese state, similar to Great Britain with its Colonies within the British Commonwealth . Spínola was primarily concerned with the fate of the numerous Portuguese settlers who remained in the colonies, who in fact had to flee in large numbers to the mother country after the colonies gained independence. The more radical forces within the MFA, on the other hand, wanted to end the war as soon as possible in order to bring the Portuguese troops home. This attitude was explained both by a political affinity to the left-wing African liberation movements (such as the MPLA in Angola or the FRELIMO in Mozambique ) and by the self-image of the MFA, which saw itself as a representative of the interests of the Portuguese soldiers in a war that had become increasingly pointless risked their lives every day and should therefore be brought home as soon as possible. Spínola finally agreed to give Guinea and Mozambique independence, but refused to surrender Angola to a left-wing liberation organization.
These conflicts weakened both President Spínola and the Da Palma Carlos government, for whom Spínola was the only support. When Da Palma Carlos failed in his attempt to hold a constitutional referendum at the same time as the presidential elections and thus strengthen the powers of the state president and government, he resigned.
Radicalization of development
Spínola now had no choice but to appoint a more radical military man, General Vasco Gonçalves , as the new head of government. Gonçalves was politically close to the Portuguese Communist Party, even if he saw its general secretary Álvaro Cunhal as a political opponent. At times he called for a council democracy . Under his government, the domestic and above all economic policy course of the government became radicalized. Conservative ministers such as Sá Carneiro, who had been a member of the government since Palma Carlos, no longer belonged to his government. Gonçalves implemented land reform and nationalized large estates and banks. Since the nationalized banks controlled many areas of the economy, almost 70% of the Portuguese gross national product was directly or indirectly under the control of the government. Spínola tried to oppose this development ("appeal to the silent majority"), but failed due to the resistance of Gonçalves and the radical wing of the MFA under Captain Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho . Annoyed, he finally gave up and resigned on September 30, 1974.
General Francisco da Costa Gomes was succeeded by Spínola . Like Spínola, he belonged to the conservative wing of the armed forces. Da Costa Gomes was forced to take a moderate course, on the one hand because with a conservative policy he would fail just as his predecessor; On the other hand, there was a growing fear among the Western European countries and especially in the USA that Portugal might be the first country in Western Europe to become communist. Knowing that Portugal was dependent on the support of the western world of states, da Costa Gomes tried to calm them down and prevent the major steps of the Santos Gonçalves government and the MFA towards socialism.
On March 11, 1975, conservative forces within the military attempted a coup against the left-wing government. The coup failed; Spínola, who was involved in him, had to leave the country and went into exile in Spain (later Brazil ) .
Dissolution of the Portuguese colonial empire and elections to the Constituent Assembly
Since Da Costa Gomes no longer opposed the dismissal of the Portuguese colonies, negotiations with the African liberation movements quickly began after he took office, which led to the rapid dissolution of the Portuguese colonial empire. The independence of Guinea-Bissau had already been recognized on September 10, 1974 , and in 1975 Mozambique (June 25), Cape Verde (July 5), São Tomé and Príncipe (July 12) and finally Angola ( November 11th). Macau initially remained with Portugal, although it was declared "Chinese territory under Portuguese administration", as it was not possible to agree on a surrender with the People's Republic of China (the Chinese wanted to keep the Macao question open as long as the question of the return of Hong Kong by the British was not clarified). As the last Portuguese colony, East Timor was granted independence (November 28). Nine days later, East Timor was annexed by Indonesia , placed under international administration after 24 years of Indonesian occupation and finally achieved independence on May 20, 2002.
Domestically, after the failed coup, a number of institutional changes were made to defend the gains of the left-wing revolution. The National Rescue Council was dissolved and a “Revolutionary Council” ( Conselho da Revolução ) was founded in its place . This received a three-member presidium, in which, in addition to the President, Prime Minister Vasco Gonçalves and Captain Otelo were represented, so the Left had a two-thirds majority . The Revolutionary Council was given a considerable say. He had authority to control the president and could veto laws .
The return to constitutional conditions after the Carnation Revolution required the adoption of a new constitution, as the old constitution dates back to the times of the Estado Novo . However, the radicals feared they would not win a majority in general elections and only voted to vote for a constituent assembly after the leading parties signed a so-called "political pact" that would ensure the continued existence of the Revolutionary Council and the MFA was guaranteed beyond the elections and regardless of their outcome. The way was now clear for elections for a constituent assembly, which were finally held on April 25th. The election winners were the socialists and centrist parties. Prime Minister Vasco Gonçalves, however, stuck to his policy regardless of this result, so that now the socialists under Mário Soares left the government.
The "hot summer" of 1975 and consolidation of the country
Further divisions became apparent within the MFA. The radical forces published their program "For the construction of a socialist society in Portugal", more moderate circles within the MFA came together under the leadership of Melo Antunes to form the so-called " Group of Nine " and published an alternative to a social democratic policy based on the model Scandinavian states. Melo Antunes and his supporters were then removed from the Revolutionary Council. President Costa Gomes took advantage of this split within the MFA, as well as the relative strength of the socialists, to dismiss the Vasco Gonçalves government in late August 1975. He appointed another military man, the moderate José Pinheiro de Azevedo , to be the new prime minister .
In order to defend the revolutionary achievements of the Carnation Revolution, which, in their opinion, had been endangered by the reorientation towards the political center, the SUV was formed (“the united soldiers will win”, Soldados Unidos Vencerão ). The political situation in Portugal escalated. There were mass demonstrations and clashes in major cities in the country. Rádio Renascença , a symbol of the Carnation Revolution, was occupied by radical forces and later blown up by government units. During the so-called “hot summer” of 1975, landless farm workers occupied the large estates of the south. More than a million hectares of land has been confiscated by the government and declared state property. The conservative landowners of the north formed right-wing guerrilla groups to protect their property against wild occupations. The settlers streaming back from the now independent former colonies added to the chaos.
On the morning of November 25, 1975, troop units revolted against a decision made by General Morais da Silva. The conservative forces within the MFA, the so-called Group of Nine, saw it as the beginning of a coup and general uprising by the extreme left-wing forces against the government. President da Costa Gomes received assurances from the Communist Party that it would not call its supporters onto the streets in support of the mutinous troops. This paved the way for military action against the insurgents. The president declared a state of emergency . Clashes between mutinous military and government troops resulted in deaths on both sides. The chief of staff and Captain Otelo, at that time city commander of Lisbon, who was seen as the leader of the coup, were dismissed, COPCON ( Comando Operacional do Continente - Continent Operations Command, an elite unit made up of paratroopers , marines and special forces of the army), the actual power base by Captain Otelo, was disbanded. General Eanes became chief of government troops. He managed to put down the uprising relatively quickly.
In the first months of 1976 there were large demonstrations for the release of those who were killed in the attempted coup on November 25th. arrested soldiers and a wave of bombings against left-wing politicians attributed to the far right.
The Pinheiro de Azevedo government tried very quickly to initiate the consolidation of the state. A milestone on this path was the adoption of a new constitution on April 2, 1976 by the Constituent Assembly. It provided for a president directly elected by the people with great powers. He should be elected for a five-year term, with the possibility of one re-election. The prime minister and the government were both responsible to the president and the new unicameral parliament (Assembly of the Republic, Assembleia da República ). The prime minister was appointed by the president. The Revolutionary Council controlled the armed forces and advised the president. The 230 members of parliament had a four-year term of office.
On April 25, 1976, the first parliamentary elections under the new constitution took place. Four parties had emerged, the Socialists (PS), the conservative Democratic People's Party (PPD) (later renamed the Social Democratic Party ), the Centrists ( CDS ) and of course the Communists (PCP). In the elections, the Socialists became the strongest party, but could not win an absolute majority (PS 35%, PPD 24%, CDS 15.9% and PCP 14.6%).
The first presidential elections were held on July 27th . General António Ramalho Eanes, Captain Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho, who represented the left, Prime Minister Pinheiro de Azevedo and Octávio Pato stood for election. General Eanes won the election with 61.5% of the vote, while Captain Otelo came second with 16.5% of the vote. On September 23, 1976, Mário Soares was elected Prime Minister. The country thus had a constitutional president and government again.
1976–1980: The first Soares government and the three non-partisan governments
The most pressing problem facing the new government was Portugal's difficult economic situation. The Soares government therefore sought financial aid from the USA and the EC . Since these powers wanted to stabilize Portugal, the country received the aid it needed. Soares also began to slowly integrate the country, which was largely isolated during the Estado Novo in Europe, into the European institutions. A first step was admission to the Council of Europe on September 22, 1976.
Soares first had to rule with a minority government. After this failed, after long negotiations he succeeded in creating a coalition with the CDS, which, however, failed on December 5, 1977 due to the major differences between the two parties.
With the existing majority in parliament, the possibilities for forming a government were exhausted. A left-wing government, although mathematically possible, was out of the question due to the differences between socialists and communists, the right had no majority, and the attempt at a center-right government had just failed. President Eanes therefore dismissed Soares and appointed three successive non-partisan governments ( Alfredo Nobre da Costa (from August 28, 1978), Carlos Mota Pinto (from November 22, 1978) and finally Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo (from August 1, 1979)). The latter was the first and so far only head of government in Portugal. In the absence of a parliamentary majority, none of these governments lasted long. The parties agreed on early elections, which were finally held towards the end of 1979.
1980–1983: Conservatives in power
On the right-hand side of the party spectrum, the leader of the former PPD, now known as the Social Democratic Party, Francisco Sá Carneiro , had become the undisputed leader. He united the three conservative parties, the Social Democrats, the CDS and the rather insignificant monarchists in a list connection, the Democratic Alliance (AD) , and won the elections with it (AD 45.26%, PS 27.33%, PCP 13 ,8th %). Sá Carneiro became the new Prime Minister. However, following a peculiarity of the Portuguese constitution, the early elections did not start a new election period; the newly elected parliament could only bring the electoral term of the old parliament to an end. That is why elections had to take place again on October 5, 1980, this time on the regular date. The new elections confirmed the previous result: AD was able to expand its leadership position (AD 47.59%, PS 27.76%, PCP 16.75%). This was the first time since the Carnation Revolution that a political grouping had won a parliamentary majority, and also for the first time a decidedly conservative government was in office in the country.
In 1980 presidential elections also took place. President Eanes stood for re-election. The radical conservative policies of the Sá Carneiro government, which openly put a whole series of decisions from the time after the Carnation Revolution up for discussion (“liberating the economy from socialism”, repealing nationalizations), had led to an open conflict between Sá Carneiro and Eanes . The AD therefore did not support the re-election of President Eanes, but instead put up General Soares Carneiro as an opposing candidate. Eanes, on the other hand, was able to secure the support of the socialists. In the elections he was re-elected in the first round with a large majority.
The political situation in Portugal was thus characterized by a cohabitation between a president (Eanes) and a head of government (Sá Carneiro or Pinto Balsemão), who were politically in different camps, as well as by the contrast between the ruling AD and the socialists under Mário Soares, became the opposition leader.
On December 4, 1980, Sá Carneiro and his defense minister, the head of his coalition party CDS, died in a helicopter crash under circumstances that have not yet been clarified. The tragic death of the controversial politician, who had ended the government of the left that had existed since 1974, immediately after his triumphant election victory and shortly before the presidential elections, shook the country.
He was succeeded by Francisco Pinto Balsemão . After taking over the government, he continued the policies of Sá Carneiro, but less radical and more sociable in style. He agreed with the socialist opposition on a series of constitutional amendments with which Portugal continued on its way to a parliamentary democracy. The Revolutionary Council as a relic of the Carnation Revolution was abolished. The position of the president has been weakened, but the government and parliament have been strengthened. The armed forces were returned to civilian control. As a prize for the support of the socialists in his re-election in 1980, President Eanes had to agree in advance to the constitutional amendments, which restricted his prerogatives, especially in foreign and security policy. Pinto Balsemão, however, lacked the charisma of his predecessor, in particular he did not understand how to hold the different parts of the heterogeneous electoral alliance AD together. The AD fell apart again, the Pinto Balsemão government lost its parliamentary majority and had to resign. The Social Democrats named Vítor Crespo, a former military man and member of the MFA, as a candidate for prime ministerial office. However, President Eanes refused to appoint him and instead dissolved parliament, so that new elections were held on April 25, 1983.
1983–1985: Grand Coalition
In the elections, the Social Democrats and Centrists previously affiliated with the AD ran separately again. The result (Socialists PS 36.12%, Social Democrats PSD 27.24%, Centrists CDS 12.56% and Communists PCP 18.7%) was inconclusive. Although the Socialists became the strongest party again, they did not have a parliamentary majority. Even the PSD and CDS, i.e. the parties that were linked in the previous government in the AD, did not have a majority due to the strong performance of the communists. After lengthy negotiations, Mário Soares managed to form a coalition with the PSD, which became known as the centrist block ( bloco central ). Mário Soares was again Prime Minister.
This government eventually toppled over internal disputes between the Social Democrats. Pinto Balsemão, who remained chairman of the party even after the election defeat and after he had to give up the post of prime minister, had in Aníbal Cavaco Silva a dangerous opponent within the party. He had been finance minister in the Sá Carneiro government and after his death refused to join the new government of Pinto Balsemão, whom he thought was too moderate. Cavaco Silva, on the other hand, saw himself as the legitimate heir of Sá Carneiro and was therefore against the coalition with the socialists.
In addition, President Eanes' second term was drawing to a close. According to the constitution, the president could not run again. Eanes was not ready to say goodbye to active politics and made contact with the Social Democrats. The personal rivalry between Soares and Eanes in particular prompted the latter to seek contact with the PSD, even though the socialists were politically closer to him. Mindful of the conflict between Sá Carneiro and Eanes, Cavaco Silva vehemently opposed a possible entry of the president into the PSD after the end of his term of office, which was supported by Pinto Balsemão. In addition, there was dissatisfaction with the Soares government's economic austerity policy. At the party conference of the Social Democrats in Figueira da Foz , Cavaco Silva Pinto Balsemão overthrew party chairman and was elected chairman of the PSD. The new party leader was the first to end the coalition with the socialists, so that the Soares government lost its parliamentary majority. President Eanes then dissolved parliament. Early parliamentary elections on October 6, 1985 were the result.
1986: Mário Soares becomes President
General Eanes, who was denied access to this party by Cavaco Silva's victory within the PSD, decided to found his own party. This is how the PRD, the Party of Democratic Renewal ( Partido Renovador Democrático ) came into being. Since Eanes was still president, the party was led pro forma by Hermínio Martinho, but it was clear to everyone that the PRD was the party of the president. The PRD was able to take advantage of the dissatisfaction of large sections of the population with the previous government's austerity policy and thus became a great beneficiary of the dissolution of parliament ordered by Eanes himself. The newly formed party got almost as many votes as the socialists and became the third strongest force in parliament.
Since Mário Soares was already planning to fight for the successor to General Eane as a presidential candidate the following year, he no longer stood for election. Instead, the socialists were led by António de Almeida Santos, who for many years had been a minister in various portfolios of the PS governments and the right-hand man of Prime Minister Soares.
In the elections, the Social Democrats PSD became the strongest party with 29.87% of the vote. Second came the socialists, the big losers of the election; their share of the vote from 36.12% in the 1983 election fell to 20.77%. The PRD immediately became the third strongest force in parliament with 17.92%. The centrists CDS were the big losers in the elections alongside the socialists and only got 9.96% of the vote. With 15.49%, the communists were able to roughly maintain their previous voter potential.
Since the Social Democrats had become the strongest party in the elections, they appointed Aníbal Cavaco Silva as the new prime minister. However, they did not have a parliamentary majority, so that Cavaco Silva formed a minority government that was dependent on the toleration of the PRD.
In 1985 there was a sensational trial when Captain Otelo, the left figurehead of the Carnation Revolution and a defeated presidential candidate from 1976 and 1980, was accused of membership in a terrorist group , the FP-25. Otelo was convicted in what is still a controversial trial. He was imprisoned for five years until he was finally released after retrial in 1990 and given amnesty in 1996 by a parliamentary decision.
Then in 1986 the presidential elections took place. For the first time, the result was open because the previous incumbent, General Eanes, could no longer stand for election. In his rivalry with the socialist candidate Soares, Eanes ensured that the PRD put up its own candidate in Francisco Salgado Zenha. He had been a personal friend of Mário Soares for a long time and like him a founding member of the Socialist Party. Together with Mário Soares, he had fought against the Salazar / Quetano dictatorship for many years. Between 1974 and 1982 he was chairman of the Socialists' group in parliament. As early as 1980, however, he fell out with Mário Soares. In addition to the PRD, the communists also supported Salgado Zenha's candidacy to prevent Soares from becoming president. The right-wing put up their own candidate in Freitas do Amaral, the founder of the CDS. However, Eanes's calculation did not work out, Salgado Zenha only came third in the elections, behind do Amaral and Soares.
The 1986 presidential elections are among the most exciting in recent Portuguese history. Soares, unpopular because of the austerity policies of the government he led, only got 8% of the vote in initial polls. In the first round of the presidential election, however, he finished second (25.4%) behind the conservative candidate Freitas do Amaral (46.3%). The most important thing about the election result of the first round, however, was that Soares relegated Eanes' ideal successor, Salgado Zenha, to third place. In the second round he received many votes from voters who had voted for Salgado Zenha in the first round and who wanted to prevent Freitas do Amaral as president. Even many supporters of the communists voted for Soares as what they saw as a “lesser evil” compared to a right-wing president. Soares won the election against Freitas do Amaral by only 2%.
Eanes had to hand over the insignia of the presidency to Mário Soares against his will. He became the first civilian in office in 60 years.
1986: joining the EC
One of Soares' main projects was the accession of his country to the EC. In 1976, during his first government as Prime Minister, he signed the Accession Treaty. A ten-year transition period was negotiated with Portugal, which at that time was economically much weaker than the other EC states. During his second government, the time of the grand coalition, he tried to reorganize the state budget through a radical austerity policy and to prepare his country for accession to the EC. The dissatisfaction of large sections of the population resulting from this austerity policy ultimately led to the overthrow of the grand coalition, the growth of the PRD in the 1985 elections and also to the fact that Soares was only elected president in the second round. Now, as the newly elected President, he was able to join the EC on January 1, 1986 (together with Spain).
1985-1995: Cavaco Silva era
The first Cavaco Silva government was short-lived: after the withdrawal of parliamentary support by Eanes' party PRD, it came to an end in 1987. President Soares, who had in the meantime developed a good relationship with Cavaco Silva, resisted the temptation to bring the socialists back into government through a coalition with the PRD. He also noticed the political inconsistency between the socialists and the PRD, so that such a coalition would have meant a weak government. Instead, the president dissolved parliament, so that early elections took place.
The July 19, 1987 elections changed the country's political landscape. For the first time in the history of the country, the extremely popular Prime Minister Cavaco Silva succeeded in gaining an absolute majority with 50.22% of the vote for his Social Democrats. It was a landslide victory: over 20% of the vote more than in the last election. The second largest group were the Socialists with 22.24%; so they were able to slightly improve their result in the previous election, which was, however, the worst in party history. The third largest faction was the Communists, who received their usual 15.49%. The big loser was the Eanes party PRD. The surprise winner of the last election lost almost all of the votes she received in the last election. The PRD received only 4.91% of the vote; from 45 MPs previously, its parliamentary group reduced to 7 members. The overthrow of the previous minority government Cavaco Silva, which the PRD had provoked, thus amounted to a political suicide by the party. After this debacle, ex-president Eanes took over the leadership of the party for a short time, but was unable to stop the decline. The PRD has not been represented in the Portuguese Parliament since the subsequent elections in 1991.
During the election campaign, Cavaco Silva had primarily emphasized the economic competence of his government and largely avoided the reference to ideologies that is otherwise common in Portuguese politics. The elections marked a process of concentration on both sides of the political spectrum. On the left, after the PRD debacle, the socialists became the sole determining force. The communists were able to maintain their electoral potential, but continued to lose in subsequent elections and were no longer an important political power group. On the right everything was concentrated on the social democrats. The second big party on the right, the CDS, only had 5% of the vote and could therefore no longer pose a threat to the Social Democrats as a competitor.
However, the liberal economic policy was still opposed to the constitution, which still called for the “transition to socialism”. Since the PSD alone did not have the two-thirds majority in parliament that was necessary for a constitutional amendment, Cavaco Silva reached an agreement with the socialists. In 1989 there were further constitutional changes; With them, the last remnants of the extremist left phase, which immediately followed the Carnation Revolution, were deleted from the constitution and the constitution was adapted to Western European standards. The clauses that stipulated the finality of the nationalizations that followed the Carnation Revolution were repealed, and the mention of socialism was removed from the constitution. This constitutional amendment made it possible for many of the industries and banks nationalized immediately after the Carnation Revolution to be re-privatized.
Portugal had a solid two-party system again, with the left-wing socialists providing the president and the conservative social democrats providing the prime minister. Cavaco Silva introduced a neoliberal economic policy. As a result of them and also through lavish transfer payments within the EC, the economy in Portugal was on the upswing, which also increased the popularity of the government.
President Soares and Prime Minister Cavaco Silva maintained good relations with each other despite their different political views. Neither of them needed conflict between the president and the government in their 1991 elections. Both Soares and Cavaco Silva were favorites in the elections and each won clearly. In the presidential elections on January 13, 1991, even the Social Democrats supported a re-election of Soares. He succeeded in winning the elections in the first ballot with a sensational 70.35% of the vote, his opponent Basílio Horta , who ran for the CDS, and the Communist candidate, Carlos Carvalhas , followed behind with 14.16% and 12 , 92% of the vote. In the parliamentary elections on October 6th of the same year, Cavaco Silva and his PSD managed to defend an absolute majority (PSD 50.60%, PS 29.13%, communists 8.8%, CDS 4.43%). As already described, the Eanes party PRD was no longer represented in the new parliament. The socialists were led by the later President Jorge Sampaio .
In the second term of office of Soares and Cavaco Silva, cohabitation was more conflictual. Soare's position was strengthened by his overwhelming election victory. In addition, since the constitution does not allow a third term in office, he did not have to worry about his re-election and therefore did not have to make any compromises. The position of the government, on the other hand, became significantly weaker. The country entered a phase of recession , social tensions increased noticeably and there were mass protests against the neoliberal economic policy of the government (most famous the mass horn concert "Buzinão" on the April 25th bridge in Lisbon in June 1994). Soares refused to allow a number of laws to come into force and sent them to the Constitutional Court to review their constitutionality, which led to further problems between the government and the president. Unlike the government, whose popularity continued to decline, Soares managed to maintain its popularity among the people.
The next general election took place in 1995, at a time when the government was particularly unpopular due to the recession. Cavaco Silva no longer competed. He had already withdrawn as he was speculating on Soares' successor in the presidential election the following year. He wanted to repeat the feat of Soares and (like this one in his first election) to win the presidential election despite the unpopularity resulting from government activities. The PSD was instead led by Joaquin Fernando Nogueira, but he lost the election. The Socialists became the strongest parliamentary group again for the first time since 1985 with 43.76%, i.e. a gain of over 14%, missing an absolute majority in parliament by just four seats. This corresponded to the large losses of the PSD, which lost over 16% compared to the last elections and only came to 34.12%. In António Guterres , President Soares was once again able to appoint a socialist head of government.
1996–2001: Socialists in power
Former Prime Minister Cavaco Silva was a candidate for the PSD in the 1996 presidential election. The socialists put up the mayor of Lisbon, Jorge Sampaio, as the opposing candidate . He managed to beat Cavaco Silva in the first ballot with 53.85% of the vote. Regular parliamentary elections were held again in October 1999. Although the socialists did not receive an absolute majority, they were again the strongest parliamentary group and were even able to slightly increase their share of the vote from 1995. Guterre's minority government emerged stronger from the elections. Guterres was elected President of the Socialist International in 1999 as the successor to the French Pierre Mauroy . So the surprise was all the greater when the socialists suffered heavy losses in the local elections in December 2001. Guterres took responsibility for the election defeat and resigned as head of government and chairman of the socialists.
2002–2004: renewed cohabitation
On January 1, 2002, the euro was introduced as the new common European currency in Portugal and replaced the Portuguese escudo .
In the early elections on March 17, 2002, the Socialists lost 6.3% of the votes and became only the second largest group. The surprise winners were the Social Democrats with 40.21% of the vote, a gain of almost 8%. The PSD formed a coalition with the People's Party (the former CDS) and with José Manuel Barroso the country received a conservative prime minister again.
As head of government, Barroso followed a strictly conservative course that soon made him unpopular in his country. In terms of economic policy, in order to comply with the requirements of the Euro Stability Pact, he was forced to pursue a strict austerity course, reduced public spending and privatized state assets. In terms of foreign policy, he sought a close relationship with the USA and supported it e.g. B. in the war against Iraq (2003).
In 2004 the term of office of the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi ended . He did not run for a second term because he wanted to return to Italian politics, where he wanted to compete against the then Prime Minister Berlusconi . The search for a suitable successor began in Europe. The preferred candidate was the Luxembourg Prime Minister Juncker , who turned it down because he wanted to remain head of government in his home country. The candidates of the liberal camp, the Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt (proposed by Germany and France ) and the conservative Chris Patten blocked each other, so that the search for a compromise candidate began in Europe. Finally, the heads of state and government agreed on Barroso at the European Council on June 29, 2004 . He then resigned as Portuguese Prime Minister on July 17, 2004 and was confirmed as Commission President by the European Parliament on November 18, 2004 .
Barroso's successor in Portugal was the previous mayor of Lisbon, Pedro Santana Lopes. During the Barroso government he had been deputy party chairman of the PSD and thus a kind of "crown prince".
Santana Lopes was not without controversy, however, he was mainly criticized because of his personality. He is seen as personable and sociable, but at the same time as populist and demagogic . As the mayor of Lisbon and as part of the Lisbon jet set , he earned the reputation of a womanizer (he has five children with three different women) and has been referred to as the “king of nightlife ” in the Portuguese capital.
That is probably why the relationship between him and Prime Minister Barroso quickly cooled. But after his resignation to take over the post of President of the EU Commission, there was no getting around Santana Lopes. President Sampaio was also skeptical, but could not prevent Santana Lopes as head of government. On July 17, 2004, Santana Lopes, who also took over the post of PSD party leader from Barroso, was finally elected as the new Portuguese Prime Minister.
The short reign of Santana Lopes was overshadowed by crises. In his own party he was unable to assert himself against his opponents and, unlike his predecessor, he did not manage to establish a reasonable working relationship with President Sampaio, who as a socialist belonged to the opposite political camp; he was publicly criticized as "incompetent". Santana Lopes then decided to strike at liberty and resigned as Prime Minister on November 30, 2004 in order to clear the way for early elections. Until the elections on February 20, 2005, he remained in office as head of government.
2005: Elections and cohabitation with opposite signs
The 2005 elections marked a political earthquake for Portugal, a debacle for the Conservatives. The PSD missed the 30 percent mark with 29.6% of the vote, so it lost 10.6% of the votes compared to the last parliamentary elections. This large loss of votes was explained on the one hand by the difficult economic situation in which the country found itself at the time of the elections, but on the other hand by the polarizing effect of Santana Lopes, who deterred many voters from the center who then migrated to the socialists. The losses of the Social Democrats were offset by gains of the Socialists of 8.65%, while the Socialists received 46.41% of the vote. Since a number of parties failed because of the 5 percent clause, this was enough for an absolute majority of the seats in parliament. For the first time in their history, the socialists had an absolute majority in parliament. The People's Party (PP), the smaller coalition partner in the previous government, lost again slightly compared to its already poor result in 2002, which led its party leader Paulo Portas to submit his resignation. Apart from the parties mentioned, only a newly formed left-wing bloc (BE - Bloco de Esquerda ) of reform communists and the Communist Party made it into parliament.
As a result of these elections, the leader of the Social Democrats, José Sócrates , assumed the office of Prime Minister on March 12, 2005. With a socialist state and prime minister, Portugal was briefly firmly in the hands of the socialists.
Regular presidential elections were held on January 22, 2006. Cavaco Silva, who had temporarily withdrawn from politics after his defeat in 1996 and was active as a supervisory board member of the Banco de Portugal and professor at the economic faculty of the Catholic University of Portugal, ran for the second time for the conservative Social Democrats, while the split left with several Candidates, including ex-President Mário Soares, ran. Cavaco Silva won in the first ballot and became the new President of Portugal. The country is thus entering a new phase of cohabitation, but this time with the opposite sign: a conservative president faces a socialist prime minister.
Since 2007: Portugal in the international financial crisis
The situation changed dramatically in the wake of the international financial crisis , which increasingly gripped Portugal. José Socrátes decided to seek EU help and, in 2011, to propose austerity to Parliament. His motion, combined with the vote of confidence, was rejected by the opposition majority, so he had to resign. New elections took place in which the PSD achieved a relative majority. A coalition was formed with the CDS and Pedro Passos Coelho was elected Prime Minister. He confirmed his predecessor's agreements with the EU and began consistently implementing the austerity and restructuring plan that had been drawn up by a “troika” made up of the EU, ECB and IMF . On October 4, 2015, the parliamentary elections , the government under Prime Minister Passos Coelho lost an absolute majority and only got 107 of 230 possible seats. Nevertheless, President Aníbal Cavaco Silva commissioned him to form a minority government. This failed eleven days after being sworn in on November 10, 2015 due to the rejection of the government program in parliament. With socialists, communists and the Marxist left bloc, a total of 123 of 230 MPs voted against Passos Coelho's austerity program.
Since November 26, 2015, António Costa of the Socialist Party has led a minority government supported by the left bloc and the Communist Party. He broke with the austerity course of his predecessors and relied on reviving the economy through increasing domestic demand: Contrary to the requirements of the EU, the cuts in pensions and family allowances were reversed, the minimum wage increased twice and the privatization of the infrastructure stopped. Despite being downgraded by the three major rating agencies, this policy was successful: the national debt was reduced above plan, as unemployment fell and economic growth was above the EU average.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (PSD) was elected President on January 24, 2016 .
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Maria Luisa Amaral, Teresa Anjinho: Winning Women's Vote: Female Suffrage in Portugal. In: Blanca Rodríguez-Ruiz, Ruth Rubio-Marín: The Struggle for Female Suffrage in Europe. Voting to Become Citizens. Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden and Boston 2012, ISBN 978-90-04-22425-4 , pp. 475-489, pp. 482-483.
- ↑ - New Parline: the IPU's Open Data Platform (beta). In: data.ipu.org. Retrieved October 5, 2018 .
- ^ Mart Martin: The Almanac of Women and Minorities in World Politics. Westview Press Boulder, Colorado, 2000, p. 312.
- ↑ Sulzmann, Daniel: Portugal's minority government: fallen after a few days ( memento from November 12, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) at tagesschau.de, November 10, 2015 (accessed on November 11, 2015).
- ^ Sheets for German and international politics. 2017/11 [1]
- ↑ Sondagem aponta para vitória de Marcelo à primeira volta , publico.pt, from 24/01/2016 - 21:05