2009 Portuguese legislative election

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search
2009 Portuguese legislative election
← 2005 27 September 2009 2011 →
230 seats to the Portuguese Assembly
116 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Registered 9,519,921 Increase6.4%
Turnout 5,681,258 (59.7%)
Decrease4.6 pp
  First party Second party Third party
  170x170px
Manuela Ferreira Leite.jpg
 170x170px
Leader José Sócrates Manuela Ferreira Leite Paulo Portas
Party PS PSD CDS–PP
Leader since 29 September 2004 31 May 2008 21 April 2007
Leader's seat Castelo Branco[2] Lisbon[3] Aveiro[1]
Last election 121 seats, 45.0% 75 seats, 28.8% 12 seats, 7.2%
Seats won 97 81 21
Seat change Decrease 24 Increase 6 Increase9
Popular vote 2,077,238 1,653,665 592,778
Percentage 36.6% 29.1% 10.4%
Swing Decrease 8.4 pp Increase 0.3 pp Increase 3.2 pp
  Fourth party Fifth party
  Jerónimo de Sousa 2007b (cropped).jpg
Leader Francisco Louçã Jerónimo de Sousa
Party Left Bloc (Portugal) PCP
Alliance CDU
Leader since 24 March 1999 27 November 2004
Leader's seat Lisbon[4] Lisbon[5]
Last election 8 seats, 6.4% 14 seats, 7.5%
Seats won 16 15
Seat change Increase8 Increase1
Popular vote 557,306 446,279
Percentage 9.8% 7.9%
Swing Increase 3.4 pp Increase 0.3 pp
230px
Prime Minister before election

José Sócrates
PS

 Prime Minister after election

José Sócrates
PS

The 2009 Portuguese legislative election was held on 27 September, to renew all 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic.[6] The Socialist Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister José Sócrates, won the largest number of seats, but didn't repeat the overall majority they gained in 2005.[7]

The Socialist Party of Prime Minister José Sócrates came in first despite losing 9% of the vote and 24 seats.

In these elections there were approximately 9.5 million Portuguese at home and abroad called to determine the 230 seats in the Assembleia da República and 18th constitutional government in Portugal after 1976. The Socialists won the election with a clear lead over the conservative Social Democrats, with big gains for the People's Party and for the Left Bloc.

The election took place during the regular end of the previous four-year legislative period. From 2005 to 2009 ruled by the Socialist Party (PS), led by José Sócrates, with an absolute majority. The opinion polls at the beginning of the official election campaign on 12 September 2009, showed a too close to call race between the Socialists and the conservative Social Democrats,[8] but just days before the election the Socialists increased their lead over the Social Democrats.[9] A total of 13 parties and two coalitions competed in this election.

Focus of the campaign was the impact of global economic, the financial crisis and the construction of new infrastructure projects, including the high-speed rail link Lisbon-Madrid and Lisbon-Porto-Vigo, and the new Lisbon airport.

Neither of the two major parties won an absolute majority in the Assembly of the Republic, so, the future prime minister had to form a coalition, or at least rely on other parties to govern. In that case, José Sócrates was in a better position than Manuela Ferreira Leite, since the Portuguese left won by 54.23% of the vote and 128 seats, against 39.54% and 102 deputies to the right.

On 12 October, José Sócrates was invited by President Aníbal Cavaco Silva to form government. The new cabinet was announced on 22 October and sworn in on 26 October.

Voter turnout was one of the lowest in Portuguese election history, as 59.7% of the electorate cast a ballot.

Background

In the February 2005 early elections, the Socialists, under the leadership of José Sócrates, won 45% of the votes and 121 MPs, the 1st time the Socialists won a majority and the 1st time a single party won a majority since Cavaco Silva's PSD victory in 1991. The PSD suffered a heavy defeat, achieving their worst results since 1983, and faced with this failure, the then PSD leader and outgoing Prime Minister, Pedro Santana Lopes, resigned from the leadership and called an election for party chair.

During the first months in his government, Sócrates raised taxes to cut the deficit and initiated a policy of strict budgetary rigor. At the same time, he faced a very harsh summer with Wildfires across the country.[10] That same October, the Socialists suffered a heavy defeat in the 2005 local elections, winning just 108 cities, a drop of 4, against the PSD's 158 mayoral holds. The PS was also unable to retake control of Lisbon and Porto. In January 2006, a new president was elected. Aníbal Cavaco Silva, PM between 1985 and 1995, became the first center-right candidate to win a presidential election, although only just. The PS candidate, former PM and President Mário Soares polled a disappointing third place with just 14% of the votes. In 2007, a referendum for the legalization of abortion was held. After the failure of the 1998 referendum, the Yes side prevailed winning 59% of the votes against the No's 41%, making abortion legal in Portugal.[11]

While the deficit reduction had been successful, and with the economy growing above 2% of GDP, the government faced heavy opposition for its policies, particularly from teachers unions. In March 2008, more than 100,000 teachers protested in Lisbon against Sócrates and his Education minister, Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues.[12]

Entering 2009, Portugal was strongly hit by the effects of the financial crisis that was shaking the global economy, and, therefore, the country entered in a recession. As a result, the government adopted stimulus measures that worsened the public finances and increased the deficit and the debt. In the European elections of June 7, 2009, the PSD stunned pundits by winning a European election for the first time since 1989, with 31.7% of the votes. The Socialists suffered a huge defeat, winning just 26% of the votes, a drop of 18%.

Leadership changes

PSD 2005 leadership election

In the party's congress in April 2005, Luís Marques Mendes became party leader winning 56% of the delegates, against the 44% of his rival, Luís Filipe Menezes.[13] The results were the following:

Ballot: 9 April 2005
Candidate Votes %
Luís Marques Mendes 497 56.6
Luís Filipe Menezes 381 43.4
Turnout 878
Source: [13]

CDS–PP 2005 leadership election

CDS–PP leader Paulo Portas, resigned from the leadership following the disappointing result of the party in the 2005 elections saying that "in no civilized country in the world, the difference between Trotskyists and Christian Democrats is one percent", referring to the result of the BE.[14] A snap leadership congress was called to elect a new leader. Two candidates were in the ballot:[15] Telmo Correia, the preferred candidate of Paulo Portas, and José Ribeiro e Castro, more critical of Portas. Ribeiro e Castro was easily elected[16] and the results were the following:

Ballot: 24 April 2005
Candidate Votes %
José Ribeiro e Castro 492 56.0
Telmo Correia 387 44.0
Turnout 879
Source: [17]

CDS–PP 2007 leadership election

In April 2007, former CDS–PP leader Paulo Portas challenged the then party leader, José Ribeiro e Castro, for the leadership and was elected for his former job by a landslide.[18] The results were the following:

Ballot: 21 April 2007
Candidate Votes %
Paulo Portas 5,642 74.6
José Ribeiro e Castro 1,883 24.9
Blank/Invalid ballots 38 0.5
Turnout 7,563
Source: [18]

PSD 2007 leadership election

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: 2007 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election

In the Social Democratic Party, incumbent leader Luís Marques Mendes was being very criticized for his opposition strategy and was left weakened after the PSD disappointing result in the 2007 Lisbon mayoral by-election, where the PSD polled 3rd with less than 16% of the votes.[19] Marques Mendes called a snap leadership election and was challenged by his rival in the 2005 PSD congress, Luís Filipe Menezes.[20] Menezes easily defeated Marques Mendes. The results were the following:

Ballot: 28 September 2007
Candidate Votes %
Luís Filipe Menezes 21,101 53.6
Luís Marques Mendes 16,973 43.1
Blank/Invalid ballots 1,279 3.3
Turnout 39,353 62.42
Source: [21]

PSD 2008 leadership election

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: 2008 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election

The then PSD leader, Luís Filipe Menezes, elected in September 2007, resigned after just 6 months in the job.[22] In the following leadership elections, held in May 2008, Manuela Ferreira Leite became the first woman to lead a major party in Portugal, winning 38% of the votes, against the 31% of Pedro Passos Coelho and the 30% of Pedro Santana Lopes.[23] The results were the following:

Ballot: 31 May 2008
Candidate Votes %
Manuela Ferreira Leite 17,278 37.9
Pedro Passos Coelho 14,160 31.1
Pedro Santana Lopes 13,495 29.6
Patinha Antão 308 0.7
Blank/Invalid ballots 351 0.8
Turnout 45,592 59.13
Source: [24]

Electoral system

200px
Official logo of the election.
Ballot for the district of Setúbal.

The Assembly of the Republic has 230 members elected to four-year terms. Governments do not require absolute majority support of the Assembly to hold office, as even if the number of opposers of government is larger than that of the supporters, the number of opposers still needs to be equal or greater than 116 (absolute majority) for both the Government's Programme to be rejected or for a motion of no confidence to be approved.[25]

The number of seats assigned to each district depends on the district magnitude.[26] The use of the d'Hondt method makes for a higher effective threshold than certain other allocation methods such as the Hare quota or Sainte-Laguë method, which are more generous to small parties.[27]

For these elections, and compared with the 2005 elections, the MPs distributed by districts were the following:[28]

District Number of MPs Map
Lisbon(–1) 47
19
6
39
5
3
16
9
4
10
4
10
10
47
2
3
17
3
8
6
5
2
2
Porto(+1) 39
Braga(+1) 19
Setúbal 17
Aveiro(+1) 16
Leiria, Santarém and Coimbra 10
Viseu 9
Faro 8
Madeira and Viana do Castelo 6
Azores and Vila Real 5
Castelo Branco(–1) and Guarda 4
Beja, Bragança(–1) and Évora 3
Portalegre, Europe and Outside Europe 2

Parties

The table below lists the parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic during the 10th legislature (2005–2009) and that also partook in the election:

Name Ideology Political position Leader 2005 result Seats at
dissolution[29]
Votes (%) Seats
PS Socialist Party
Partido Socialista		 Social democracy Centre-left José Sócrates 45.0%
121 / 230
121 / 230
PPD/PSD Social Democratic Party
Partido Social Democrata		 Liberal conservatism
Classical liberalism		 Centre-right Manuela Ferreira Leite 28.8%
75 / 230
75 / 230
PCP Portuguese Communist Party
Partido Comunista Português		 Communism
Marxism–Leninism		 Far-left Jerónimo de Sousa 7.5%
[lower-alpha 1]
12 / 230
11 / 230
PEV Ecologist Party "The Greens"
Partido Ecologista "Os Verdes"		 Eco-socialism
Green politics		 Left-wing Heloísa Apolónia
2 / 230
2 / 230
CDS-PP CDS – People's Party
Centro Democrático e Social – Partido Popular		 Christian democracy
Conservatism		 Centre-right
to right-wing		 Paulo Portas 7.2%
12 / 230
11 / 230
BE Left Bloc
Bloco de Esquerda		 Democratic socialism
Anti-capitalism		 Left-wing Francisco Louçã 6.4%
8 / 230
8 / 230
Ind. Independent
Independente		 Luísa Mesquita (expelled from the Portuguese Communist Party caucus);[30]
João Luís Mota (left the CDS – People's Party caucus)[31]
2 / 230

Campaign period

Party slogans

Party or alliance Original slogan English translation Refs
PS « Avançar Portugal » "Go forward Portugal" [32]
PSD « Compromisso de verdade » "Real commitment" [33]
CDU « Soluções para uma vida melhor » "Solutions for a better life" [34]
CDS–PP « Não basta pensar. É preciso votar. » "Thinking is not enough. You need to vote." [35]
BE « Estamos prontos » "We are ready" [36]

Candidates' debates

2009 Portuguese legislative election debates
Date Organisers Moderator(s)     P  Present    A  Absent invitee  N  Non-invitee 
PS
Sócrates		 PSD
Leite		 CDU
Jerónimo		 CDS–PP
Portas		 BE
Louçã		 Refs
2 Sep TVI Constança Cunha e Sá P N N P N [37]
3 Sep SIC Clara de Sousa N N P N P [37]
5 Sep RTP1 Júdite de Sousa P N P N N [37]
6 Sep TVI Constança Cunha e Sá N P N N P [37]
7 Sep SIC Clara de Sousa N N P P N [37]
8 Sep RTP1 Júdite de Sousa P N N N P [37]
9 Sep TVI Constança Cunha e Sá N P P N N [37]
10 May RTP1 Júdite de Sousa N P N P N [37]
11 Sep RTP1 Júdite de Sousa N N N P P [37]
12 Sep SIC Clara de Sousa P P N N N [37]
Candidate viewed as "most convincing" in each debate
Date Organisers Polling firm/Link
PS PSD CDU CDS–PP BE Notes
12 Sep SIC Aximage 45.6 30.2 N/A N/A N/A 24.2% Neither/Tie

Opinion polling

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2009 Portuguese legislative election

<templatestyles src="Graph:Chart/styles.css"></templatestyles>

Results

National summary

<templatestyles src="Module:Hatnote/styles.css"></templatestyles>

For detailed results by constituency, see Results breakdown of the 2009 Portuguese legislative election.
Summary of the 27 September 2009 Assembly of the Republic elections results
File:AR Eleicoes 2009.svg
Parties Votes % ±pp swing MPs MPs %/
votes %
2005 2009 ± % ±
style="width: 5px; background-color: #FF66FF;" data-sort-value="Socialist Party (Portugal)" | Socialist 2,077,238 36.56 Decrease8.4 121 97 Decrease24 42.17 Decrease10.4 1.15
style="width: 5px; background-color: #FF9900;" data-sort-value="Social Democratic Party (Portugal)" | Social Democratic 1,653,665 29.11 Increase0.3 71 81 Increase10 35.22 Increase4.3 1.21
style="width: 5px; background-color: #0093DD;" data-sort-value="CDS – People's Party" | People's 592,778 10.43 Increase3.1 12 21 Increase9 9.13 Increase3.9 0.88
style="width: 5px; background-color: Template:Left Bloc (Portugal)/meta/color;" data-sort-value="Left Bloc (Portugal)" | Left Bloc 557,306 9.81 Increase3.4 8 16 Increase8 6.96 Increase3.5 0.71
style="width: 5px; background-color: #FF0000;" data-sort-value="Democratic Unity Coalition" | Unitary Democratic Coalition[lower-alpha 2] 446,279 7.86 Increase0.3 14 15 Increase1 6.52 Increase0.4 0.83
style="width: 5px; background-color: #CC0000;" data-sort-value="Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers / Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat" | Portuguese Workers' Communist 52,761 0.93 Increase0.1 0 0 Steady0 0.00 Steady0.0 0.0
style="width: 5px; background-color: lightgreen;" data-sort-value="Hope for Portugal Movement" | Hope for Portugal Movement 25,949 0.46 N/A N/A 0 N/A 0.00 N/A 0.0
style="width: 5px; background-color: #1F468B;" data-sort-value="New Democracy Party (Portugal)" | New Democracy 21,876 0.38 Decrease0.3 0 0 Steady0 0.00 Steady0.0 0.0
style="width: 5px; background-color: #00B4C8;" data-sort-value="Merit and Society Movement" | Merit and Society Movement 16,924 0.30 N/A N/A 0 N/A 0.00 N/A 0.0
style="width: 5px; background-color: #005FAD;" data-sort-value="People's Monarchist Party (Portugal)" | People's Monarchist Party[lower-alpha 3] 15,262 0.27 N/A 2 0 Decrease2 0.00 Decrease0.9 0.0
Ecology and Humanism Front (MPT/PH)[lower-alpha 4] 12,405 0.22 N/A N/A 0 N/A 0.00 N/A 0.0
style="width: 5px; background-color: #002147;" data-sort-value="National Renovator Party" | National Renovator Party 11,503 0.20 Increase0.0 0 0 Steady0 0.00 Steady0.0 0.0
Portugal Pro-Life 8,461 0.15 N/A N/A 0 N/A 0.00 N/A 0.0
Labour 4,974 0.09 N/A N/A 0 N/A 0.00 N/A 0.0
style="width: 5px; background-color: #FF0000;" data-sort-value="Workers Party of Socialist Unity" | Workers Party of Socialist Unity 4,632 0.08 Decrease0.0 0 0 Steady0 0.00 Steady0.0 0.0
style="width: 5px; background-color: #013220;" data-sort-value="Earth Party" | Earth Party[lower-alpha 5] 3,265 0.06 N/A 2 0 Decrease2 0.00 Decrease0.9 0.0
Total valid 5,505,278 96.91 Decrease0.2 230 230 Steady0 100.00 Steady0.0 —
Blank ballots 99,086 1.74 Decrease0.1
Invalid ballots 76,894 1.35 Increase0.2
Total 5,681,258 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 9,519,921 59.68 Decrease4.6
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[38]
Vote share
PS
  
 36.56%
PSD
  
 29.11%
CDS-PP
  
 10.43%
BE
  
 9.81%
CDU
  
 7.86%
PCTP/MRPP
  
 0.93%
Others
  
 2.21%
Blank/Invalid
  
 3.09%
Parliamentary seats
PS
  
 42.17%
PSD
  
 35.22%
CDS-PP
  
 9.13%
BE
  
 6.96%
CDU
  
 6.52%

Distribution by constituency

Results of the 2009 election of the Portuguese Assembly of the Republic
by constituency
Constituency % S % S % S % S % S Total
S
PS PSD CDS–PP BE CDU
Azores 39.7 3 35.7 2 10.3 - 7.3 - 2.2 - 5
Aveiro 33.8 6 34.6 7 13.0 2 9.0 1 3.8 - 16
Beja 34.9 2 14.6 - 5.7 - 10.0 - 29.1 1 3
Braga 41.7 9 30.8 6 9.7 2 7.8 1 4.6 1 19
Bragança 33.0 1 40.6 2 12.6 - 6.2 - 2.4 - 3
Castelo Branco 41.0 2 29.8 2 8.4 - 9.1 - 5.1 - 4
Coimbra 38.0 4 30.6 4 8.8 1 10.8 1 5.7 - 10
Évora 35.0 1 19.0 1 6.4 - 11.1 - 22.3 1 3
Faro 31.9 3 26.2 3 10.7 1 15.3 1 7.8 - 8
Guarda 36.0 2 35.6 2 11.2 - 7.6 - 3.3 - 4
Leiria 30.1 4 34.9 4 12.6 1 9.5 1 5.1 - 10
Lisbon 36.4 19 25.1 13 11.0 5 10.8 5 9.9 5 47
Madeira 19.4 1 48.1 4 11.1 1 6.2 - 4.2 - 6
Portalegre 38.3 1 23.8 1 8.0 - 10.8 - 12.9 - 2
Porto 41.8 18 29.2 12 9.3 4 9.2 3 5.7 2 39
Santarém 33.7 4 27.0 3 11.2 1 11.8 1 9.2 1 10
Setúbal 34.0 7 16.4 3 9.1 1 14.0 2 20.1 4 17
Viana do Castelo 36.3 3 31.3 2 13.6 1 8.6 - 4.2 - 6
Vila Real 36.1 2 41.1 3 10.1 - 5.5 - 2.9 - 5
Viseu 34.7 4 37.5 4 13.4 1 6.5 - 2.9 - 9
Europe 43.3 1 23.8 1 4.7 - 4.7 - 4.4 - 2
Outside Europe 22.0 - 54.5 2 3.2 - 2.0 - 1.0 - 2
Total 36.6 97 29.1 81 10.4 21 9.8 16 7.9 15 230
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[39]

Maps

  • First, second and third most voted political force by district.

  • Portuguese Districts legislatives 2009.svg

    Most voted political force by district or autonomous region.

  • Legislativas portuguesas de 2009 (Mapa).png

    Most voted political force by municipality.

Notes

  1. ↑ The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Ecologist Party "The Greens" (PEV) contested the 2005 election in a coalition called Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU) and won a combined 7.5% of the vote and elected 14 MPs to parliament.
  2. ↑ Portuguese Communist Party (13 MPs) and "The Greens" (2 MPs).
  3. ↑ Elected in 2005 in the Social Democratic Party electoral lists.
  4. ↑ Earth Party / Humanist Party joint electoral list only in continental Portugal.
  5. ↑ Earth Party electoral list only in Madeira and Azores.

References

  1. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  14. ↑ "Paulo Portas deixa liderança do CDS no rescaldo da noite eleitoral", TVI24, 21 February 2005. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  15. ↑ "CDS partido ao meio", Correio da Manhã, 24 April 2005. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  16. ↑ "Ribeiro e Castro é o novo presidente do CDS-PP", TVI24, 25 April 2005. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  18. ↑ 18.0 18.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  23. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  24. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  27. ↑ Gallaher, Michael (1992). "Comparing Proportional Representation Electoral Systems: Quotas, Thresholds, Paradoxes and Majorities"
  28. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  29. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  30. ↑ Deputada Luísa Mesquita expulsa do PCP , Público, 27 November 2007. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  31. ↑ Deputado sai do CDS-PP, mas fica na Assembleia da República como não inscrito , Público, 17 December 2008. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
  32. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  33. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  36. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  37. ↑ 37.0 37.1 37.2 37.3 37.4 37.5 37.6 37.7 37.8 37.9 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  38. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  39. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

See also

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=2009_Portuguese_legislative_election&oldid=726870338"