List of political parties in Portugal

Template:Politics of Portugal Political parties in Portugal lists political parties in Portugal. The Portuguese political scene has been dominated by the Socialist Party and the Partido Social Democrata since the Revolution, although the Popular Party had been present in some post-revolution governments and the Portuguese Communist Party in coalition with the The Greens holds the presidency of several municipalities.

The parties currently (as of 2005) represented in the Assembly of the Republic (Parliament) are the Socialist Party (121 MPs), the Social Democratic Party (75 MPs), the Communist Party (12 MPs), the Popular Party (12 MPs), the Leftwing Bloc (8 MPs) and the Green Party (2 MPs).

The parties

• Partido Socialista (Socialist Party) - Social Democrat, founded in 1973, it is a party which resembles the British Labour Party or the German SPD, its historical leader is Mário Soares.

• Partido Social Democrata (Social Democratic Party) - The name might be somewhat misleading, as the PSD is not a traditional Social Democratic Party, being itself much closer to the right-wing. It is the Portuguese equivalent of any other centre-right party in Europe such as the UK Conservatives, the Spanish PP, or the German CDU. PSD was founded right after 1974 Revolution as Partido Popular Democrático (Popular Democratic Party) by many personalities of the so-called "liberal wing" of the fascist regime, like Francisco Sá Carneiro, Francisco Pinto Balsemão and Magalhães Mota.

• Partido Comunista Português (Portuguese Communist Party) - The major leftwing party, founded in 1921 as the Portuguese Section of The Communist International (Comintern) has its major influence among the working class and played a major role in the opposition to the Salazar regime, being brutally repressed several times during 48 years of resistance. After being one of the most influent parties in the years that followed the Carnation Revolution it became lesser influent after the fall of the socialist bloc of eastern Europe, but still enjoys popularity in vast sectors of Portuguese society, particularly in the rural areas of the 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 - CGTP (General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers). Its historical leader is Álvaro Cunhal.

• Partido Popular (Popular Party) - 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 the Constitution.

• Bloco de Esquerda (Leftwing Bloc) - Formed in 1999 by several left-wing parties, it adopts a wide range of left-wing policies, concentrating its efforts on the legalisation of abortion and light drugs. It portrays itself as a modern, progressive alternative to the Communist Party. In the last years the Party lost some of its radical wordiness and proposals, slowly becoming a mainstream party.

• Partido Ecologista "Os Verdes" (Ecologist Party "The Greens") - Founded in 1982 and traditionally allied in with the Communist Party in the Unitarian Democratic Coalition, although they have a little expression in the political life, they have some important specific knowledge and intervention about environmental issues.

• Partido Comunista dos Trabalhadores Portugueses - Movimento Reorganizativo do Partido do Proletariado (Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers - Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat) - A Maoist and formerly pro-Chinese party. Had a high-profile during the Carnation Revolution, mostly due to its verbal violence and its influence among some groups of students, actually it never reached 1% of the voting or elected a single MP. Generally the largest political party without parliamentary representation.

• Nova Democracia (New Democracy) - A new party which resulted from a separatism from the PP. It resembles the American Republican Party.

• Partido Humanista (Humanist Party) - An humanist party, member of the Humanist International.

• Partido Popular Monárquico (People's Monarchist Party) - Small monarchist party with little political expression. It is known that the heir to the Portuguese Throne, Dom Duarte Pio, does not support this party.

• Partido Nacional Renovador (National Renewal Party) - Nationalist party, very close to the French Front National. Although fascist parties are forbidden under the Portuguese Constitution, this party is legal, positioning itself as neo-nationalist although many of its members express their sympathy for the fascist regime.

• Partido Operário de Unidade Socialista (Workers' Party of Socialist Unity) - The last placed in the electoral scorecard, with about 0.1% of the votes, it is an almost non-existent party, although it is member of one small faction of the former Fourth International called the International Secretariat of the Fourth International.

• Partido Democrático do Atlântico (Democratic Party of the Atlantic) - Small party whose electorate concentrates itself in the Azores. It defends the independence of the Azores, Madeira and Canary Islands and the formation of an Atlantic Island Federation. It seldom gets more than 1% of the votes, even in the Azores.

See also

• Index of political parties to browse parties by name
• List of political parties to browse parties by country
• List of political parties by ideology to browse parties by name
• Membership of internationals to browse parties by membership of internationals
• Liberalism in Portugal

External links

[ http://www.legislativas.mj.pt Results of the parliamentary election of 2005]de:Liste der politischen Parteien Portugals pt:Lista de partidos políticos em Portugal