Earth Party

The Earth Party Movement – Earth Party Movimento o Partido da Terra – Partido da Terra
File:Earth Party logo.jpg
President	José Inácio Faria
Honorary President	Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles
Founded	12 August 1993
Headquarters	Lisbon
Youth wing	Juventude pela Terra
Ideology	Green politics Green conservatism Eco-capitalism Agrarianism
Political position	Centre to Centre-right
European affiliation	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
International affiliation	World Ecological Parties
European Parliament group	Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe
Colours	Green
Assembly of the Republic	0 / 230
European Parliament	1 / 21
Regional Parliaments	1 / 104
Local Government	2 / 2,086
Website
http://www.mpt.pt/
Politics of Portugal Political parties Elections

The Earth Party (Portuguese: Partido da Terra, pronounced: [pɐɾˈtiðu ðɐ ˈtɛʁɐ]), previously called The Earth Party Movement, Movimento o Partido da Terra, abbreviated MPT (hence called MPT – Partido da Terra), is a political party in Portugal, founded on 12 August 1993.

Between 2005 and 2009, the party had two Deputies in the Assembly of the Republic: Pedro Quartin Graça and Luís Carloto Marques, elected on the lists of the Social Democratic Party, following an agreement with its then leader, Pedro Santana Lopes.

The President of the party is José Inácio Faria, elected in the IX Party Conference on 10 November 2014 and the Honorary President is Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles.

The party has participated in a number of coalitions with the major centre-right parties in the country, namely the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and People's Party (CDS–PP).

Recent history

2009 European Parliament elections

In April 2009, the party announced in a joint press conference with the leader of the pan-European alliance Libertas.eu Declan Ganley that it would run for the 2009 European Parliament election with an open electoral list under the banner of Libertas. While not against European integration, MPT demands more accountability and transparency from the European Union, and the pursuit of a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty in Portugal. In the elections, MPT received 24,062 votes (0.67% of the votes).

2009 Legislative elections

For the 2009 Portuguese legislative election, MPT formed a coalition with the Humanist Party on mainland Portugal that received 0.22% of the votes. Including MPT's votes in Azores and Madeira, where they ran a list on their own, they reached 0.28% nationwide. However, the 2009 local elections were a success in terms of number of people elected, as MPT won 2 councillor, 17 municipal assembly members and 47 parish councillor posts.

2011 Elections

In the 2011 Portuguese legislative election, MPT stood under its own open lists throughout Portugal and achieved 0.41% of the national vote, catapulting it from 14th to 8th place overall in comparison to the 2009 Portuguese legislative election. This was largely due to its more professional campaigning – it employed a campaign manager for the first time – and the inclusion in its lists of a number of popular celebrities.

In the 2011 Madeira regional election the Party elected one Legislative Assembly member despite a fall in its number of votes of 0.3%.

2014 European Parliament elections

MPT achieved its first major electoral success independent of any coalition, in the 2014 European Parliament election, winning 7.14% of the vote and electing two MEPs: the former Chairman of the Portuguese Bar Association António Marinho e Pinto (who subsequently left the party) and the lawyer José Inácio Faria.

On 21 November 2014, the MPT was admitted as a full member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) at the ALDE congress in Lisbon.

2014 Party Congress

MPT held its IX Party Congress on 22 November 2014 in Lisbon, where incumbent president John Rosas Baker announced his intention not to stand for reelection and was replaced by MEP José Inácio Faria.

2015 Portuguese General Election

The party contested the Portuguese legislative election, 2015 under its own open lists but failed to improve on its 2011 result, gaining less than 0.5% of the popular vote and failing once again to elect any MPs to the Assembly of the Republic.

External links

• MPT