List of political parties in Portugal

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This article lists political parties in Portugal. The Portuguese political scene has been dominated by the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party since the 1974 Carnation Revolution, although the People's Party has been present in some governments and the Portuguese Communist Party in coalition with The Greens holds the presidency of several municipalities.

The parties, as of 2015, represented in the Assembly of the Republic are the Social Democratic Party (89 MPs), the Socialist Party (86 MPs), the Left Bloc (19 MPs), the People's Party (18 MPs), the Communist Party (15 MPs), the Green Party (2 MPs) and the People-Animals-Nature (1 MP). Several other parties are represented in the legislatures of the autonomous regions, the Legislative Assembly of the Azores and the Legislative Assembly of Madeira.

The parties

Existing parties

This list presents all the existing parties recognized by the Portuguese Constitutional Court.[1] It is organized by political spectrum and chronological order.

Far-left

Name Abbr. Leader History Founded
Portuguese Workers' Communist Party/Reorganized Movement of the Party of the Proletariat
Partido Comunista dos Trabalhadores Portugueses/Movimento Reorganizativo do Partido do Proletariado		 PCTP/MRPP António Garcia Pereira A Maoist and formerly pro-Chinese party. It had a high-profile during the Carnation Revolution, mostly due to its influence among some groups of students, although it never reached 2% of the votes or elected a single MP. Generally the largest political party without parliamentary representation. 1970
Workers Party of Socialist Unity
Partido Operário de Unidade Socialista		 POUS Collective leadership A very small party, it is a member of one small faction of the former Fourth International called the International Secretariat of the Fourth International. 1976
Socialist Alternative Movement
Movimento Alternativa Socialista		 MAS Gil Garcia Formed in 2000 as a Portuguese Trotskyist political organization and it is the result of a merger between the Left Revolutionary Front (FER - Frente da Esquerda Revolucionária), and the young activists of the student movement Ruptura. The Ruptura/FER activists integrated the Left Bloc since its formation. In 2011, the movement split from the Left Bloc and formed a new party called Socialist Alternative Movement that was approved by the Constitutional Court on July 2013. 2000

Left-wing

Name Abbr. Leader History Founded
Portuguese Communist Party
Partido Comunista Português		 PCP Collective leadership (Secretary-General: Jerónimo de Sousa) Founded in 1921 as the Portuguese Section of the Communist International, has its major influence among the working class and played a major role in the opposition to the Estado Novo regime, being brutally repressed in the process. After being one of the most influential parties in the years that followed the Carnation Revolution, it lost most of its power base after the fall of the Eastern Bloc, but still enjoys popularity in vast sectors of Portuguese society, particularly in the rural areas of Alentejo and Ribatejo and also in the heavily industrialized areas around Lisbon and Setúbal. It also has a major influence among the biggest Portuguese labour union – General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers (CGTP). Its historical leader was Álvaro Cunhal. 1921
Ecologist Party "The Greens"
Partido Ecologista "Os Verdes"		 PEV Heloísa Apolónia Green party traditionally allied with the Communist Party in the Unitarian Democratic Coalition. It was the first environmentalist party in Portugal. 1982
Left Bloc
Bloco de Esquerda		 BE Collective leadership (spokesperson: Catarina Martins) Formed as a result of the merger of three left-wing parties: the Popular Democratic Union, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, and the Politics XXI. It adopts a wide range of left-wing policies and portrays itself as a modern, progressive alternative to the Communist Party. 1999

Centre-left

Name Abbr. Leader History Founded
Socialist Party
Partido Socialista		 PS António Costa Social Democrat and big tent, the PS is a major party in Portugal, resembling the British Labour Party, the German SPD or the Spanish PSOE. The party was founded before the 1974 Revolution in Bad Münstereifel, West Germany, by Mário Soares, its historical leader and one of the main opponents of the dictatorial regime, and by other personalities. Its leader, António Costa, is the current Prime Minister of Portugal. 1973
People-Animals-Nature
Pessoas-Animais-Natureza		 PAN Collective leadership (spokesperson: André Silva) Party inspired by environmentalism and strongly focused on the rights of animals and animal welfare and which considers itself to be socially progressive, defending LGBT rights and women's rights. 2009
Portuguese Labour Party
Partido Trabalhista Português		 PTP Amândio Madaleno Social Democrat, it is a minor party of the centre-left. 2009
FREE
LIVRE		 L Collective leadership (spokesperson: Rui Tavares) The Livre was formed by former members of the Left Bloc and other left-wing intellectuals. It's an eco-socialist and Europeist party. 2014

Centre

Name Abbr. Leader History Founded
Liberal Democratic Party
Partido Liberal Democrata		 PLD Francisco Oliveira A liberal-centrist party. Founded in 2007 as the Merit and Society Movement (Portuguese: Movimento Mérito e Sociedade) by the college professor Eduardo Correia. In 2011 changed its name to Liberal Democratic Party. 2007
Democratic Republican Party
Partido Democrático Republicano		 PDR António Marinho e Pinto Founded by the former leader of the Portuguese Bar Association, António Marinho e Pinto. He ran as the Earth Party candidate for the 2014 European elections but left the party soon after to form his own party. An Eurosceptic party, defends a reform of the electoral system and reform of justice system. 2014
Together for the People
Juntos Pelo Povo		 JPP Filipe Sousa Formed as an independent movement for the Local elections of 2013 in the municipally of Santa Cruz in Madeira. Transformed into a political party in 2015 in order to contest the regional elections in Madeira. 2015
We, the Citizens!
Nós, Cidadãos!		 NC Mendo Castro Henriques A minor party founded as a result of the anti-austerity movement. 2015
United Party of Retirees and Pensioners
Partido Unido dos Reformados e Pensionistas		 PURP António Mateus Dias The party's goal is to defend the rights of retirees and pensioners, aiming to position itself as the political voice of the members of this age group. It was founded as a result of the anti-austerity movement. 2015
Liberal Initiative
Iniciativa Liberal		 IL Miguel Ferreira da Silva A liberal party, it joined the ALDE in December 2017 as a full member. 2017

Centre-right

Name Abbr. Leader History Founded
Social Democratic Party
Partido Popular Democrático/Partido Social Democrata		 PPD/PSD Rui Rio The name might be somewhat misleading, as the PSD is not a traditional Social Democratic Party, being much closer to the right-wing. A major party (the biggest in terms of party membership) it is a big tent party and the equivalent of any other centre-right party in Europe such as the British Conservative Party, the Spanish People's Party, or the German CDU. PSD was founded right after the 1974 Revolution as Partido Popular Democrático (People's Democratic Party) by many personalities of the so-called "liberal wing" of the fascist regime, like Francisco Sá Carneiro (the PSD historical leader) and Francisco Pinto Balsemão. The current President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is a former leader. 1974
CDS – People's Party
Centro Democrático e Social – Partido Popular		 CDS–PP Assunção Cristas A traditional Christian Democrat party, very similar to the German CSU. Also founded after the revolution, it is to the right of the PSD, and advocates stringent social and religious conservatism. In 1976 it was the only party that voted against approval of a socialist constitution. After a more populist right-wing tendency with his leaders Manuel Monteiro and Paulo Portas in the 1990s and early 2000s, it returned to its centrist Christian Democrat roots with Paulo Portas' second period in its leadership in the late 2000s. 1974
Earth Party
Partido da Terra		 MPT José Inácio Faria A centre-right green party, founded in 1993 by a faction of the People's Monarchist Party. 1993

Right-wing

Name Abbr. Leader History Founded
People's Monarchist Party
Partido Popular Monárquico		 PPM Paulo Estevão Small monarchist party with little political expression. It is known that the pretender heir to the Portuguese throne, Dom Duarte Pio, does not support this party, since the question of monarchical regime is considered to be above partisanship. 1974
Citizenship and Christian Democracy Party
Partido Cidadania e Democracia Cristã		 PPV/CDC Luís Botelho Ribeiro A socially conservative political party that opposes abortion and euthanasia and promotes other elements of Catholic social teaching. 2009

Far-right

Name Abbr. Leader History Founded
National Renovator Party
Partido Nacional Renovador		 PNR José Pinto Coelho Ultranationalist party, very simillar to the French National Rally. 2000

Extinct parties

This list presents the parties of the current Third Republic that were once recognized by the Portuguese Constitutional Court but ceased to exist. It is organized by political spectrum and alphabetical order (in Portuguese).

Far-left

Left-wing

Centre-left

Centre

Centre-right

  • New Democracy Party – PND (Partido da Nova Democracia)
  • Portuguese Party of the Regions - PPR (Partido Português das Regiões)

Right-wing

  • Independent Movement for National Reconstruction - MIRN (Movimento Independente para a Reconstrução Nacional)
  • Party of the Christian Democracy - PDC (Partido da Democracia Cristã)

Far-right

  • Democratic Movement of the Liberation of Portugal - MDLP (Movimento Democrático de Libertação de Portugal)
  • Democratic Party of the Atlantic - PDA (Partido Democrático do Atlântico)

Historical parties

This list includes the political parties that existed before the Third Republic, in chronological order.

Constitutional Monarchy (1834–1910)

First Republic (1910-1926)

Ditadura Nacional (1926-1933)

Estado Novo (1933-1974)

See also

References

  1. ↑ Tribunal Constitucional – Partidos registados e suas denominações, siglas e símbolos
  • "Partidos Políticos". Comissão Nacional de Eleições. Retrieved 2018-10-04.
  • "Arquivo Electrónico da Democracia Portuguesa - História dos Partidos". Centro de Documentação 25 de Abril. Retrieved 2006-06-20.
  • "Partidos e Movimentos Portugueses". Centro de Estudos do Pensamento Político. Retrieved 2005-05-17.
  • Results of the parliamentary election of 2011
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