Portuguese legislative election, 2009
Encyclopedia
Legislative elections in Portugal
were held on 27 September 2009 to renew all 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic
. 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
.
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, but just days before the election the Socialists increased their lead over the Social Democrats. Competed in this election a total of 13 parties and two coalition list.
Focus of the campaign were the impact of global economic and 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 must form a coalition, or at least rely on other parties to govern. In this case, José Sócrates is 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.
Voter turnout
was one of the lowest in Portuguese election history, as 59.7% of the electorate cast a ballot.
The major parties involved, listed with their leaders:
José Sócrates, leader of the Socialist Party, was nominated Prime Minister.
With 230 seats the results are:
|-
|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"
! align="center" | Institute
! align="center" | PS
! align="center" | PSD
! align="center" | CDS-PP
! align="center" | BE
! align="center" | CDU
|-
| align="left" | RTP/Universidade Católica
| align="center" | 36.0% - 40.0%
| align="center" | 25.0% - 29.0%
| align="center" | 8.5% - 11.5%
| align="center" | 9.0% - 12.0%
| align="center" | 7.0% - 10.0%
|-
| align="left" | SIC/Eurosondagem
| align="center" | 36.2% - 40.4%
| align="center" | 26.9% - 30.7%
| align="center" | 7.7% - 9.9%
| align="center" | 9.0% - 11.2%
| align="center" | 6.5% - 8.7%
|-
| align="left" | TVI/INTERCAMPUS
| align="center" | 36.0% - 40.0%
| align="center" | 26.3% - 30.3%
| align="center" | 8.6% - 11.6%
| align="center" | 8.5% - 11.5%
| align="center" | 6.0% - 9.0%
|}
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
were held on 27 September 2009 to renew all 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic
Assembly of the Republic
The Assembly of the Republic is the Portuguese parliament. It is located in a historical building in Lisbon, referred to as Palácio de São Bento, the site of an old Benedictine monastery...
. The Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Portugal)
The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....
, led by incumbent Prime Minister José Sócrates
José Sócrates
José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, GCIH , commonly known by José Sócrates , is a Portuguese politician who was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 12 March 2005 to 21 June 2011....
, won the largest number of seats, but didn't repeat the overall majority they gained in 2005
Portuguese legislative election, 2005
The Portuguese legislative election of 2005 took place on February 20. These elections were called after the decision of President Jorge Sampaio on November 30, 2004 to dissolve the Parliament as an answer to the political instability caused by the government led by Pedro Santana Lopes in...
.
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, but just days before the election the Socialists increased their lead over the Social Democrats. Competed in this election a total of 13 parties and two coalition list.
Focus of the campaign were the impact of global economic and 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 must form a coalition, or at least rely on other parties to govern. In this case, José Sócrates is 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.
Voter turnout
Voter turnout
Voter turnout is the percentage of eligible voters who cast a ballot in an election . After increasing for many decades, there has been a trend of decreasing voter turnout in most established democracies since the 1960s...
was one of the lowest in Portuguese election history, as 59.7% of the electorate cast a ballot.
The major parties involved, listed with their leaders:
- Leftwing Bloc (BE), Francisco LouçãFrancisco LouçãFrancisco Anacleto Louçã is a Portuguese economist and politician, first elected in 1999.. He is the son of António Seixas Louçã, who commanded a ship on the Tagus River during the Carnation Revolution, and wife Noémia da Rocha Neves Anacleto , a lawyer.Louçã was an active opponent of the...
- Unitarian Democratic CoalitionUnitarian Democratic CoalitionThe Democratic Unity Coalition is an electoral and political coalition between the Portuguese Communist Party and the Ecologist Party "The Greens"...
(CDU), Jerónimo de SousaJerónimo de SousaJerónimo Carvalho de Sousa is the General Secretary of the Portuguese Communist Party since the 17th Congress of the Party in November 2004.... - Socialist PartySocialist Party (Portugal)The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....
(PS), José SócratesJosé SócratesJosé Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, GCIH , commonly known by José Sócrates , is a Portuguese politician who was the Prime Minister of Portugal from 12 March 2005 to 21 June 2011.... - Social Democratic PartySocial Democratic Party (Portugal)The Social Democratic Party , is a centre-right liberal conservative political party in Portugal. It is commonly known by its initials, PSD; on ballot papers, its initials appear as PPD/PSD, with the first three letters coming from the party's original name, Democratic People's Party...
(PSD), Manuela Ferreira LeiteManuela Ferreira LeiteMaria Manuela Dias Ferreira Leite , commonly known as Manuela Ferreira Leite , is a Portuguese economist and politician.-Background:... - People's Party (PP), Paulo PortasPaulo PortasPaulo de Sacadura Cabral Portas , commonly known just by Paulo Portas , is a Portuguese politician, party leader of the Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party , a member of the Portuguese Parliament and former Portuguese minister of State, National Defense and Sea Affairs.In 2011, after he...
José Sócrates, leader of the Socialist Party, was nominated Prime Minister.
With 230 seats the results are:
- Socialist PartySocialist Party (Portugal)The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....
(PS): 97 - Social Democratic PartySocial Democratic Party (Portugal)The Social Democratic Party , is a centre-right liberal conservative political party in Portugal. It is commonly known by its initials, PSD; on ballot papers, its initials appear as PPD/PSD, with the first three letters coming from the party's original name, Democratic People's Party...
(PSD): 81 - Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party (CDS-PP): 21
- Left Bloc (BE): 16
- Democratic Unity Coalition (PCP-PEV): 15
Opinion polling
The following table shows the opinion polls of voting intention of the Portuguese voters before the election. Those parties that are listed are currently represented in parliament. Included is also the result of the Portuguese general elections in 2005 and 2009 for reference.Preliminary exit polls
Exit polls from the three major television networks in Portugal, RTP1, SIC and TVI were given precisely at 20:00PM (local time) on 27 September 2009.|-
|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"
! align="center" | Institute
! align="center" | PS
Socialist Party (Portugal)
The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....
! align="center" | PSD
Social Democratic Party (Portugal)
The Social Democratic Party , is a centre-right liberal conservative political party in Portugal. It is commonly known by its initials, PSD; on ballot papers, its initials appear as PPD/PSD, with the first three letters coming from the party's original name, Democratic People's Party...
! align="center" | CDS-PP
! align="center" | BE
! align="center" | CDU
Unitarian Democratic Coalition
The Democratic Unity Coalition is an electoral and political coalition between the Portuguese Communist Party and the Ecologist Party "The Greens"...
|-
| align="left" | RTP/Universidade Católica
| align="center" | 36.0% - 40.0%
| align="center" | 25.0% - 29.0%
| align="center" | 8.5% - 11.5%
| align="center" | 9.0% - 12.0%
| align="center" | 7.0% - 10.0%
|-
| align="left" | SIC/Eurosondagem
| align="center" | 36.2% - 40.4%
| align="center" | 26.9% - 30.7%
| align="center" | 7.7% - 9.9%
| align="center" | 9.0% - 11.2%
| align="center" | 6.5% - 8.7%
|-
| align="left" | TVI/INTERCAMPUS
| align="center" | 36.0% - 40.0%
| align="center" | 26.3% - 30.3%
| align="center" | 8.6% - 11.6%
| align="center" | 8.5% - 11.5%
| align="center" | 6.0% - 9.0%
|}