The
Democratic Unity Coalition is an electoral and political coalition between the
Portuguese Communist PartyThe Portuguese Communist Party , or PCP, is a major left-wing political party in Portugal. It is a Marxist-Leninist party, and its organization is based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself to be patriotic and internationalist.The party was founded in 1921 as the Portuguese...
and the Ecologist Party "The Greens" (
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
: Partido Ecologista "Os Verdes" or
PEV). The coalition also integrates the political movement
Democratic InterventionThe Democratic Intervention is a Portuguese left-wing political association founded in order to promote and defend socialist ideas in Portugal. It takes part in electoral alliance Unitarian Democratic Coalition, along with the Portuguese Communist Party and the Ecologist Party "The Greens"....
The coalition was formed for the first time in 1987 in order to run to the simultaneous
legislative electionThe Portuguese legislative election of 1987 took place on July 19. In the last election, in 1985, the Social Democratic Party had achieved a relative majority, thing that made its government very weak, managing to survive in coalition with the Democratic Social Center and the Democratic Renovator...
and
European Parliament electionThe European Parliament election of 1987 in Portugal took place on 19 July 1987. It was the election of all 24 MEPs representing the Portugal constituency for the remainder of the 1984-1989 term of the European Parliament...
that were held on July 19 of that year.
Since the beginning of the coalition, the member parties have never participated separately in any election.
The
Democratic Unity Coalition is an electoral and political coalition between the
Portuguese Communist PartyThe Portuguese Communist Party , or PCP, is a major left-wing political party in Portugal. It is a Marxist-Leninist party, and its organization is based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself to be patriotic and internationalist.The party was founded in 1921 as the Portuguese...
and the Ecologist Party "The Greens" (
PortuguesePortuguese is a Romance language that originated in what is now Galicia and northern Portugal. It is derived from the Latin spoken by the romanized Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula around 2000 years ago...
: Partido Ecologista "Os Verdes" or
PEV). The coalition also integrates the political movement
Democratic InterventionThe Democratic Intervention is a Portuguese left-wing political association founded in order to promote and defend socialist ideas in Portugal. It takes part in electoral alliance Unitarian Democratic Coalition, along with the Portuguese Communist Party and the Ecologist Party "The Greens"....
The coalition was formed for the first time in 1987 in order to run to the simultaneous
legislative electionThe Portuguese legislative election of 1987 took place on July 19. In the last election, in 1985, the Social Democratic Party had achieved a relative majority, thing that made its government very weak, managing to survive in coalition with the Democratic Social Center and the Democratic Renovator...
and
European Parliament electionThe European Parliament election of 1987 in Portugal took place on 19 July 1987. It was the election of all 24 MEPs representing the Portugal constituency for the remainder of the 1984-1989 term of the European Parliament...
that were held on July 19 of that year.
Since the beginning of the coalition, the member parties have never participated separately in any election. The Communist Party is the major force inside it and has the majority of places in the electoral lists, however, the Greens also have an important presence and elected 2 Members of parliament among the 14 elected by the coalition in the last legislative election. Each party has its own parliamentary group and counts as a separate party in official issues.
At a local level, the coalition usually presents lists in almost every municipality and both Communists and Green may occupy first place on the lists. As the Greens have a smaller structure, the offices of the Communist Party are used as offices of the coalition.
Symbol
The present symbol of CDU shows the PCP's symbol and the PEV's symbol, an
hammer and sickleThe hammer and sickle is a part of communist symbolism and its usage indicates an association with Communism, a Communist party, or a Communist state. It features a hammer and a sickle overlapping each other. The two tools are symbols of the industrial proletariat and the peasantry; placing them...
and a
sunflowerSunflowers are annual plants native to the Americas, that possess a large inflorescence .-Description :...
, respectively, with the respective names below. That symbol replaced a former one that featured three hexagons with the inscription: CDU and was often used with a beehive. That was sometimes said to mean that CDU worked just like a bee (collectively and every day) and the hexagons were meant to represent the cell-based Leninist organization of the PCP.
Youth organization
The coalition has a youth wing, called
Juventude CDUJuventude CDU is the youth wing of the Unitarian Democratic Coalition in Portugal. Juventude CDU consists of the Portuguese Communist Youth and Ecolojovem and develops political work in youth-related subjects, along with youth-oriented activities, primarily during electoral campaigns....
, that develops political work in youth related subjects, along with youth oriented activities, mainly during the electoral campaigns. The Juventude CDU is mainly composed by members of the youth wings of the parties that compose the CDU, the
Portuguese Communist YouthThe Portuguese Communist Youth is the youth organization of the Portuguese Communist Party and was founded in November 10 of 1979, after the unification of the Young Communist League and the Communist Students League .The JCP has a political relation of cooperation with...
and the
EcolojovemEcolojovem is the youth wing of Ecologist Party "The Greens" in Portugal. Ecolojovem was founded on February 25 1989.It forms part of Juventude CDU and the National Youth Council. Ecolojovem is also a member of the Federation of Young European Greens....
.
Results in parliamentary elections
Results in Parliamentary Elections
(year links to election page) |
| Year |
Type of Election |
Voting |
% |
Mandates |
1987The Portuguese legislative election of 1987 took place on July 19. In the last election, in 1985, the Social Democratic Party had achieved a relative majority, thing that made its government very weak, managing to survive in coalition with the Democratic Social Center and the Democratic Renovator...
|
Portuguese Parliament |
685,109 |
12.2% |
31 |
1991The Portuguese legislative election of 1991 took place on October 6. The Social Democratic Party, under the lead of Cavaco Silva, won the election easily with an absolute majority for the second consecutive turn, achieving a higher share than in the previous election, losing, however, 13 MPs due to...
|
Portuguese Parliament |
501,840 |
8.8% |
17 |
1995The Portuguese legislative election of 1995 took place on October 1. The Socialist Party defeated the Social Democratic Party under the lead of António Guterres, elected some months before, but missed the absolute majority by 4 MPs. The Social Democratic party under the lead of Fernando Nogueira...
|
Portuguese Parliament |
504,007 |
8.6% |
15 |
1999The Portuguese legislative election of 1999 took place on October 10. The Socialist Party was aiming a second term under the lead of António Guterres, in the end the Socialist Party won the election, but missed what would be an historical absolute majority for the party by only one MP.The Social...
|
Portuguese Parliament |
483,716 |
9.0% |
17 |
2002The Portuguese legislative election of 2002 took place on March 17. These elections were called after the resignation of the former Prime-Minister, António Guterres after a defeat of the Socialist Party in the local election of 2001...
|
Portuguese Parliament |
378,640 |
7.0% |
12 |
2005The 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...
|
Portuguese Parliament |
432,009 |
7.6% |
14 |
2009Legislative 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.With 230 seats...
|
Portuguese Parliament |
446,174 |
7.9% |
15 |
(source: Portuguese Electoral Commission)
Note:
- In 1991 the overall number of MPs changed from the original 250 to 230.
Results in local elections
Results in Local Elections
(year links to election page) |
| Year |
Type of Election |
Voting |
% |
Mandates |
| 1989 |
Local |
633,682 |
12.8% |
252 |
| 1993 |
Local |
689,928 |
12.8% |
246 |
| 1997 |
Local |
643,956 |
12.0% |
236 |
| 2001 |
Local |
557,481 |
10.6% |
202 |
2005The Portuguese local election of 2005 took place on October 9. The election consisted of three separate elections in the 308 Portuguese municipalities, the election for the Municipal Chambers, whose winner is elected mayor, another election for the Municipal Assembly and a last one for the...
|
Local |
590,496 |
11.0% |
203 |
(source: Portuguese Electoral Commission)
Results in European Parliament elections
Results in European Elections
(year links to election page) |
| Year |
Type of Election |
Voting |
% |
Mandates |
1987The European Parliament election of 1987 in Portugal took place on 19 July 1987. It was the election of all 24 MEPs representing the Portugal constituency for the remainder of the 1984-1989 term of the European Parliament...
|
European Parliament The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union , it forms the bicameral legislative branch of the Union's institutions and has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
|
646,640 |
11.5% |
3 |
1989The European Parliament election of 1989 in Portugal was the election of MEP representing Portugal constituency for the 1989-1994 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 1989 European election...
|
European Parliament |
594,961 |
14.4% |
4 |
1994The European Parliament election of 1994 in Portugal was the election of MEP representing Portugal constituency for the 1994-1999 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 1994 European election...
|
European Parliament |
339,283 |
11.2% |
3 |
1999The European Parliament election of 1999 in Portugal was the election of MEP representing Portugal constituency for the 1999-2004 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 1999 European election...
|
European Parliament |
357,575 |
10.3% |
2 |
2004The European Parliament election of 2004 in Portugal was the election of MEP representing Portugal constituency for the 2004-2009 term of the European Parliament. It was part of the wider 2004 European election...
|
European Parliament |
309,406 |
09.1% |
2 |
(source: Portuguese Electoral Commission)
Note:
- In 2004, after the enlargement of the European Union
Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1951...
, the number of MEPs elected by PortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
decreased from the original 25 to 24.