List of political parties in Portugal

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

The parties, 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 Left Bloc (8 MPs) and the Green Party (2 MPs).

The parties

Existing parties

This list presents all the existing parties recognized by the Portuguese Constitutional Court.

Left-wing

* Bloco de Esquerda - B.E. - (Left 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 soft 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.:: Frente da Esquerda Revolucionária - FER - (Revolutionary Left Front) - Trotskyist party formed in the 1980s, it merged with other small left-wing parties and founded the Leftwing Bloc.:: Partido Socialista Revolucionário - PSR - (Revolutionary Socialist Party) - Trotskyist party formed in the 1980s, it merged with other small left-wing parties and founded the Leftwing Bloc.:: Política XXI - PXXI - (Politics 21) - Socialist party formed after the end of the Portuguese Democratic Movement in the late 1980s, it merged with other small left-wing parties and founded the Leftwing Bloc.:: União Democrática Popular - UDP - (People's Democratic Union) - Marxist-Leninist party founded in 1974, later it merged with other small left-wing parties and founded the Leftwing Bloc.

* Partido Comunista Português - PCP (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 for the duration of the dictatorial regime. After being one of the most influent parties in the years that followed the Carnation Revolution it lost most of its power base 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 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, now deceased, was Álvaro Cunhal.

* Partido Comunista dos Trabalhadores Portugueses - Movimento Reorganizativo do Partido do Proletariado - PCTP-MRPP (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, although it never reached 1% of the votes or elected a single MP. Generally the largest political party without parliamentary representation.

* Partido Ecologista "Os Verdes" - PEV (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 Operário de Unidade Socialista - POUS (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.

Centre-left

* Partido Humanista - PH (Humanist Party) - A humanist party, member of the Humanist International.

* Partido Socialista - PS (Socialist Party) - Social Democrat, founded in 1973, it is a party which resembles the British Labour Party or the German SPD, its leader is José Sócrates, the current prime minister of Portugal.

* Partido Democrático do Atlântico - PDA (Democratic Party of the Atlantic) - Former extreme right party which has, in the last thirty years, been shifting to the moderate left. Its influence is limited to the Azores. It defends the ultramarine status of the Azores and Madeira. It seldom gets more than 1% of the votes, even in the Azores.

Centre-right

* Partido Social Democrata - PSD (Social Democratic Party) - The name might be somewhat misleading, as the PSD is not a traditional Social Democratic Party, being 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 (People's 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 da Terra - MPT (Earth Party) - A right wing green party, founded by a faction of the People's Monarchist Party.

* Movimento Esperança Portugal - MEP (Hope for Portugal Movement) - A centre political party, with humanist ideology.

* Movimento Mérito e Sociedade - MMS (Merit and Society Movement) - A centre political party.

Right-wing

* Centro Democrático Social/Partido Popular - CDS/PP (Democratic Social Center/People's 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 a socialist Constitution.

* Partido Popular Monárquico - PPM (People's Monarchist Party) - 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.

* Nova Democracia - PND (New Democracy) - A new party which resulted from Manuel Monteiro leaving the PP. It's a conservative party.

* Partido Nacional Renovador - PNR (National Renewal Party) - Nationalist party, very close to the French Front National and with many members sympathetic to fascism. Although fascist parties are forbidden under the Portuguese Constitution, the PNR, as legal successor to the National Renovator Party, is legal after their leaders joined the moribund PRD, changed internal regulations and positioning itself as neo-nationalist socialist but only for Nacional's their label is Labour and Nation tagged as "right".

Extinct parties

This list presents all the parties that were once recognized by the Portuguese Constitutional Court but ceased to exist.

Left

* Worker-Peasant Alliance - AOC (Aliança Operário-Camponesa)
* People's Unity Force - FUP (Força de Unidade Popular)
* Communist Electoral Front (marxist-leninist) - FEC(ML) (Frente Eleitoral Comunista)
* People's Socialist Front - FSP (Frente Socialista Popular)
* Groups for the Dinamization of the People's Unity - GDUPs (Grupos Dinamizadores da Unidade Popular)
* Internationalist Communist League - LCI (Liga Comunista Internacionalista)
* Socialist League of the Workers - LST (Liga Socialista dos Trabalhadores)
* Movement of Socialist Left - MES (Movimento de Esquerda Socialista)
* Portuguese Democratic Movement - MDP (Movimento Democrático Português)
* Movement for the Unity of the Workers - MUT Movimento para a Unidade dos Trabalhadores
* Portuguese Marxist-Leninist Communist Organization - OCMLP (Organização Comunista Marxista Leninista Portuguesa)
* Communist Party of Portugal (Marxist-Leninist) - PCP(ML) (Partido Comunista Português (Marxista Leninista))
* Communist Party (Reconstructed) - PC(R) (Partido Comunista Reconstruído)
* Popular Unity Party - PUP (Partido de Unidade Popular)
* Workers Revolutionary Party - PRT (Partido Revolucionário dos Trabalhadores)

Center-Left

* Independent Social Democratic Association - ASDI (Acção Social Democrata Independente)
* Democratic Renovator Party - PRD (Partido Renovador Democrático)
* National Solidarity Party - PSN (Partido da Solidariedade Nacional)
* Labour Party - PT (Partido Trabalhista)
* Leftwing Union for the Socialist Democracy - UEDS (União da Esquerda para a Democracia Socialista)

Center-Right

* Portuguese Party of the Regions - PPR (Partido Português das Regiões)

Right

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

References

*cite web | title=Partidos Políticos|url=http://www.cne.pt/_x.cfm?sec=05040000| publisher=Comissão Nacional de Eleições| accessdate = 2006-06-20
*cite web | title=Arquivo Electrónico da Democracia Portuguesa - História dos Partidos|url=http://www.uc.pt/cd25a/wikka.php?wakka=histpar| publisher=Centro de Documentação 25 de Abril| accessdate = 2006-06-20
*cite web |title= Partidos e Movimentos Portugueses|url=http://www.iscsp.utl.pt/~cepp/xbrowser/indexpar_n.php3| publisher=Centro de Estudos do Pensamento Político| accessdate = 2005-05-17

ee 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

External links

* [http://www.legislativas.mj.pt Results of the parliamentary election of 2005]