1983 Portuguese legislative election

1983 Portuguese legislative election
25 April 1983
All 250 seats in the Assembly of the Republic
126 seats needed for a majority
Registered7,337,064 Increase 2.2%
Turnout5,707,695 (77.8%)
Decrease 6.1 pp
  First party Second party
 
Leader Mário Soares Carlos Mota Pinto
Party PS PSD
Leader since 19 April 1973 27 February 1983
(designated candidate)
Leader's seat Lisbon Coimbra
Last election 66 seats, 27.8%[a] 82 seats (AD)
Seats won 101 75
Seat change Increase 35 Decrease 7
Popular vote 2,061,309 1,554,804
Percentage 36.1% 27.2%
Swing Increase 8.3 pp [b]
  Third party Fourth party
 
Leader Álvaro Cunhal Francisco Lucas Pires
Party PCP CDS
Alliance APU
Leader since 14 April 1978 20 February 1983
Leader's seat Lisbon Lisbon
Last election 41 seats, 16.8% 46 seats (AD)
Seats won 44 30
Seat change Increase 3 Decrease 16
Popular vote 1,031,609 716,705
Percentage 18.1% 12.6%
Swing Increase 1.3 pp [b]
Prime Minister before election

Francisco Pinto Balsemão
PSD

 Prime Minister after election

Mário Soares
PS

The 1983 Portuguese legislative election took place on 25 April. The election renewed all 250 members of the Assembly of the Republic.

The election was called after two and a half years of significant instability, from the dead of Francisco Sá Carneiro in an aircrash in December 1980, to deep internal divisions within the Democratic Alliance (AD) under the leadership of Francisco Pinto Balsemão.

The Socialist Party (PS) emerged victorious with 36 percent, and Mário Soares was nominated Prime Minister. However, the Socialists lacked a majority in the Assembly of the Republic and were forced to form a coalition with the Social Democrats, which achieved 27 percent, in what was called the "Central Bloc". Although this coalition allowed Soares to govern, several members of both parties were against it, and internal attacks led to the collapse of the coalition after less than two years.

Besides the two main parties, the Communist-dominated United People Alliance (APU) gained 3 MPs and 18 percent of the votes, while the Democratic and Social Center (CDS), after the dissolution of the Democratic Alliance, garnered 30 MPs, a loss of 16, and 12 percent of the votes. On the other hand, the Popular Democratic Union (UDP) lost its sole seat that it had since 1975.

This would the last legislative election to be won by the Socialist Party until 1995.

Background

In October 1980, the Democratic Alliance (AD), led by Francisco Sá Carneiro, was reelected with a reinforced majority, but it was cut short with his death, his partner Snu Abecassis, his Defense minister Adelino Amaro da Costa and wife, plus other crew members, in a tragic plane crash in Camarate, Loures, shortly after taking off from Lisbon Airport.[1] This tragic air crash sparked a series of conspirancy theories, mainly because of Portugal's involvement in the Iran–Iraq War and the supply of weapons to both Iraq and Iran.[2]

Following the death of Sá Carneiro, Diogo Freitas do Amaral, CDS leader, became interim Prime Minister until the election of a new PSD leader. Days later, Francisco Pinto Balsemão was elected PSD leader and sworn in as Prime Minister.[3] During Balsemão's term in office, a significant revision of the Constitution in 1982, approved by the AD and the Socialists (PS), dissolved the Revolutionary Council, created the Constitutional Court (thus putting an end to military dominance over elected civilian power), removed some of the left-leaning ideological tone from the supreme law, and aimed to reduce the powers of the President of the Republic.[4][5] At the same time, Balsemão's government faced a deterioration in the country's economic conditions, resulting from the adverse external situation, but mostly from the expansionary fiscal policies during the early days of the AD government, which severely damaged public finances.[6][7]

Government fall

Pinto Balsemão had a lot of problems in leading the government, as he lacked support from many senior members of his party, such as Aníbal Cavaco Silva, former Finance minister under Sá Carneiro, and several of his cabinet ministers kept resigning, like Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa,[8] not to mention the very tense and fraught relationship with President Ramalho Eanes.[9] Moreover, the right-wing policies were criticized by the left-wing and by trade unions, culminating in the General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers, with the support of the Communists, calling a general strike in February 1982 that shook the government.[10] The wave of resignations among Balsemão's ministers continued and by the end of 1982, and also influenced by the AD's weak results in the 1982 local elections, Balsemão himself also resigned.[11]

The Social Democratic Party proposed, to President Ramalho Eanes, a government led by Vítor Crespo, but President Eanes rejected the proposal citing that the political conditions were just too deteriorated, and instead decided to dissolve Parliament and call an election for April.[12] Shortly after, the AD was dissolved as PSD, CDS and PPM decided to contest by their own the April snap election.[13]

Leadership changes and challenges

Social Democratic Party

On 13 December 1980, just a few days after Sá Carneiro's death, the PSD national party council elected Francisco Pinto Balsemão as party leader and nominated him to became Prime Minister.[14] Balsemão was sworn in as Prime Minister on 9 January 1981.[3]

Ballot: 13 December 1980
Candidate Votes %
Francisco Pinto Balsemão 59 96.7
Against 1 1.6
Blank/Invalid ballots 1 1.6
Turnout 61
Source: Público[14]

In early 1983, after the collapse of the AD coalition, the then PSD leader Francisco Pinto Balsemão announced he would not run again for the leadership of the party nor be the party's candidate for the early legislative election.[15] Carlos Mota Pinto, former Prime Minister, supported Nuno Rodrigues dos Santos' candidacy for President of the party, in order for him to be the party's candidate for Prime Minister, while Pinto Balsemão's wing supported João Bosco Mota Amaral, President of the Regional Government of the Azores, who ended up dropping out.[16] In a deeply divided Congress, Nuno Rodrigues dos Santos won the presidency, while Mota Pinto was selected by the PSD as the party's candidate for Prime Minister.[17]

Ballot: 27 February 1983
Candidate Votes %
Nuno Rodrigues dos Santos 596 73.3
João Bosco Mota Amaral withdrew
Against 118 14.5
Blank/Invalid ballots 99 12.2
Turnout 813
Source: Diário de Lisboa[16]

Democratic and Social Center

Just like in the PSD, after the dissolution of the Democratic Alliance (AD), Diogo Freitas do Amaral also resigned from his party's leadership, and a snap congress to elect a new leader was called.[18] Two candidates were on the ballot, Francisco Lucas Pires and Luís Barbosa, with Lucas Pires being elected as new party leader.[19]

Ballot: 20 February 1983
Candidate Votes %
Francisco Lucas Pires 58.2
Luís Barbosa 41.8
Turnout
Source: Diário de Lisboa[20]

Electoral system

The Assembly of the Republic has 250 members elected to four-year terms. Governments do not require absolute majority support of the Assembly to hold office, as even if the number of opposers of government is larger than that of the supporters, the number of opposers still needs to be equal or greater than 126 (absolute majority) for both the Government's Programme to be rejected or for a motion of no confidence to be approved.[21]

The number of seats assigned to each district depends on the district magnitude.[22] The use of the d'Hondt method makes for a higher effective threshold than certain other allocation methods such as the Hare quota or Sainte-Laguë method, which are more generous to small parties.[23]

For these elections, and compared with the 1980 elections, the MPs distributed by districts were the following:[24]

DistrictNumber of MPsMap
Lisbon56
Porto38
Setúbal17
Braga(+1)16
Aveiro15
Santarém12
Leiria and Coimbra(–1)11
Viseu10
Faro9
Castelo Branco, Viana do Castelo and Vila Real6
Azores, Beja, Évora, Guarda and Madeira5
Bragança and Portalegre4
Europe and Outside Europe2

Parties

The table below lists the parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic during the 2nd legislature (1980–1983) and that also contested the elections:

Name Ideology Political position Leader 1980 result[25]
% Seats
PPD/PSD Social Democratic Party
Partido Social Democrata		 Liberal conservatism Centre-right Carlos Mota Pinto
47.6%
[b]
82 / 250
CDS Democratic and Social Center
Centro Democrático e Social		 Christian democracy Centre-right
to right-wing		 Francisco Lucas Pires
46 / 250
PPM People's Monarchist Party
Partido Popular Monárquico		 Monarchism
Green conservatism		 Right-wing Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles
6 / 250
PS Socialist Party
Partido Socialista		 Social democracy Centre-left Mário Soares
27.8%
[a]
66 / 250
UEDS Left-wing Union for the Socialist Democracy
União da Esquerda para a Democracia Socialista		 Democratic Socialism
Workers' self-management		 Left-wing António Lopes Cardoso
4 / 250
ASDI Independent Social-Democratic Action
Acção Social Democrata Independente		 Democratic Socialism
Social democracy		 Centre-left António de Sousa Franco
4 / 250
PCP Portuguese Communist Party
Partido Comunista Português		 Communism
Marxism–Leninism		 Far-left Álvaro Cunhal
16.8%
[c]
39 / 250
MDP/CDE Portuguese Democratic Movement
Movimento Democrático Português		 Left-wing nationalism
Democratic socialism		 Left-wing José Manuel Tengarrinha
2 / 250
UDP Popular Democratic Union
União Democrática Popular		 Marxism
Socialism		 Left-wing Mário Tomé 1.4%
1 / 250

Campaign period

Issues

The country's very difficult economic situation, with the need for austerity measures, dominated the campaing.[26] The campaign itself was rather low-key, sign of the country's problematic economic situation and a gloomy electorate.[26][27] The Socialist Party (PS), under the leadership of Mário Soares, envisioned a comeback, with Soares pointing to the need for a "clear majority" due to the country's bad shape, while the Social Democrats (PSD), led by a new leader, Carlos Mota Pinto, warned of the dangers of instability.[26] Álvaro Cunhal's communist APU coalition ran under the motto of "defeating the reactionary parties", whereas the Democratic Social Center (CDS) campaigned on the basis of national liberalism.[26]

Party slogans

Party or alliance Original slogan English translation Refs
PSD « Firmeza na decisão. Competência na acção. » "Firmness in the decision. Competence in action." [28]
PS « Juntos vamos conseguir » "Together we will do it" [29]
CDS « O nosso caminho é Portugal » "Our path is Portugal" [30]
APU « Vota APU, A solução! » "Vote APU, The Solution!" [31]

Candidates' debates

1983 Portuguese legislative election debates
Date Organisers Moderator(s)     P  Present    A  Absent invitee  N  Non-invitee 
PSD
Pinto		 PS
Soares		 CDS
Pires		 APU
Cunhal		 Refs
23 Mar Antena 1 P P P P [32]
31 Mar RTP1 P P P P [33]

Opinion polling

  Exit poll / Forecast

Polling firm/Link Date Released PSD CDS PS APU O Lead
1983 legislative election 25 Apr 1983 27.2
75		 12.6
30		 36.1
101		 18.1
44		 6.0
0		 8.9
RTP (23:15) 25 Apr 1983 25.4–27.7
69/72		 11.5–12.0
27/30		 36.0–39.1
98/104		 17.2–18.5
42/46		 – 10.6
11.4
RTP (20:30) 25 Apr 1983 22.0–25.5
65/72		 12.0–14.5
35/40		 36.0–38.5
94/102		 16.5–19.0
42/46		 – 13.0
14.0
Tempo Apr 1983 24 12.5 38 17 8.5 14
Euroexpansão 29 Jan 1983 24 12 33 19 12 9
1982 local elections 12 Dec 1982 42.5 31.8 20.7 5.0 10.7
Euroexpansão Sep 1982 22 19 28 18 13 6
Antropos[d] 27 Jul 1981 42.0 36.1 13.9 8.0 5.9
25.1 9.9 42.4 14.0 8.6 17.3
1980 legislative election 5 Oct 1980 47.6
134		 27.8
74		 16.8
41		 7.8
1		 19.8

Results

National summary

PartyVotes%+/–Seats+/–
Socialist Party[e][a]2,061,30936.11+8.34101+35
Social Democratic Party[b]1,554,80427.24—75–7
United People Alliance[c]1,031,60918.07+1.3244+3
Democratic and Social Centre[b]716,70512.56—30–16
Christian Democratic Party39,1800.69+0.2900
People's Monarchist Party27,6350.48—0–6
Popular Democratic Union27,2600.48–0.900–1
Popular Democratic Union–Revolutionary Socialist Party25,2220.44—0—
Portuguese Workers' Communist Party20,9950.37–0.2200
Workers' Party of Socialist Unity19,6570.34–1.0400
Revolutionary Socialist Party13,3270.23–0.7300
Socialist Workers League11,5000.20New0New
Portuguese Marxist–Leninist Communist Organization6,1130.11+0.0500
Democratic Party of the Atlantic5,5230.10–0.0400
Communist Party (Reconstructed)[f]860.00New0New
Total5,560,925100.00–2500
Valid votes5,560,92597.43–0.29
Invalid votes104,2761.83+0.12
Blank votes42,4940.74+0.17
Total votes5,707,695100.00–
Registered voters/turnout7,337,06477.79–6.15
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições[34]
Vote share
PS
 
 36.11%
PSD
 
 27.24%
APU
 
 18.07%
CDS
 
 12.56%
PDC
 
 0.69%
Others
 
 2.75%
Blank/Invalid
 
 2.57%
Parliamentary seats
PS
 
 40.40%
PSD
 
 30.00%
APU
 
 17.60%
CDS
 
 12.00%

Distribution by constituency

Results of the 1983 election of the Portuguese Assembly of the
Republic by constituency
Constituency%S%S%S%S Total
S
PS PSD APU CDS
Azores 31.1 2 54.4 3 3.1 - 4.7 - 5
Aveiro 36.6 6 34.8 6 7.0 1 16.4 2 15
Beja 28.0 2 11.8 - 49.4 3 4.1 - 5
Braga 39.7 7 27.0 5 8.8 1 18.3 3 16
Bragança 30.4 1 35.8 2 4.8 - 20.9 1 4
Castelo Branco 37.1 3 30.6 2 11.3 - 13.2 1 6
Coimbra 45.3 6 27.8 3 10.7 1 10.2 1 11
Évora 23.9 1 18.6 1 47.6 3 4.5 - 5
Faro 43.2 5 23.1 2 18.6 2 7.4 - 9
Guarda 33.5 2 31.5 2 4.9 - 23.8 1 5
Leiria 32.7 4 35.6 4 9.5 1 16.2 2 11
Lisbon 35.8 21 21.8 13 25.3 15 11.7 7 56
Madeira 24.4 1 56.2 4 2.8 - 8.2 - 5
Portalegre 38.5 2 19.1 1 28.7 1 7.5 - 4
Porto 43.0 18 26.2 10 13.6 5 12.5 5 38
Santarém 38.4 5 24.7 3 20.0 3 10.0 1 12
Setúbal 30.6 6 12.7 2 45.8 8 5.1 1 17
Viana do Castelo 32.5 2 32.6 3 9.9 - 18.4 1 6
Vila Real 32.3 2 42.0 3 5.4 - 12.7 1 6
Viseu 30.9 4 36.6 4 4.6 - 20.7 2 10
Europe 33.6 1 31.2 1 17.1 - 11.1 - 2
Outside Europe 7.0 - 48.2 1 2.8 - 34.1 1 2
Total 36.1 101 27.2 75 18.1 44 12.6 30 250
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Maps

Aftermath

Fall of the government

The Central Bloc government had become deeply unpopular by 1984, with the consequences of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout to save public finances and the economy hitting hard on the population.[35] The budget cuts and increasing poverty were creating deep disagreements between PS and PSD, but also within both parties rifts were being formed. In the Social Democrats, these rifts came to a breaking point in February 1985 with party leader Carlos Mota Pinto resigning and announcing he would contest the next leadership ballot.[36] But, Mota Pinto died unexpectedly just days prior to the 1985 PSD congress and Aníbal Cavaco Silva, which was against the Central Bloc, was elected as leader.[37] Shortly after his election as party leader, Cavaco Silva withdrew the PSD support to the Central Bloc, and the government fell with Soares' resignation as prime minister on 13 June 1985,[38] one day after he signed Portugal's entry into the European Economic Community.[39] President Ramalho Eanes decided to dissolve Parliament and call a snap election for 6 October 1985.[37]

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 The Socialist Party (PS), the Left-wing Union for the Socialist Democracy (UEDS) and the Independent Social-Democratic Action (ASDI) contested the 1980 election in a coalition called Republican and Socialist Front (FRS) and won a combined 27.8% of the vote and elected 74 MPs to parliament.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 The Social Democratic Party (PSD), the Democratic Social Center (CDS) and the People's Monarchist Party (PPM) contested the 1980 election in a coalition called Democratic Alliance (AD) and won a combined 47.6% of the vote and elected 134 MPs to parliament.
  3. 1 2 The Portuguese Communist Party (41 MPs) and Portuguese Democratic Movement (3 MPs) ran in coalition.
  4. ↑ AD coalition poll - Results presented here exclude undecideds (10.4%), abstention (2.6%) and doesn't answer (6.6%). With their inclusion results are: AD: 33.8%; PS: 29.0%; APU: 11.2%; Others/Invalid: 6.4%. PSD and CDS separate lists poll - Results presented here exclude undecideds (10.4%), abstention (2.2%) and doesn't answer (6.2%). With their inclusion results are: PS: 34.4%; PSD: 20.4%; APU: 11.4%; CDS: 8.0%; Others/Invalid: 7.0%.
  5. ↑ The Socialist Party (PS) results are compared to the combined total share of the vote from the Republican and Socialist Front and from the 66 seats elected by the PS, within the coalition, in the 1980 election.
  6. ↑ The Communist Party (Reconstructed) list only in Europe and Rest of the World.

References

  1. ↑ "Sá Carneiro morre em acidente de aviação" (in Portuguese). RTP. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  2. ↑ "Atentado de Camarate. Familiar de vítima acusa republicanos dos EUA" (in Portuguese). RTP. 25 August 2020. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  3. 1 2 "Tomada de posse do VII Governo Constitucional" (in Portuguese). RTP. 9 January 1981. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
  4. ↑ "Revisão Constitucional de 1982" (in Portuguese). Infopédia Porto Editora. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  5. ↑ "Das Presidenciais à revisão Constitucional de 1982" (in Portuguese). 50 anos do 25 de Abril. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  6. ↑ "A crise económica que levou Portugal a provar pela primeira vez a receita do FMI" (in Portuguese). Público. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  7. ↑ "1983-1984: A crise que demorou a chegar" (in Portuguese). Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos. Retrieved 10 August 2026.
  8. ↑ "Balsemão não perdoa deslealdade a Marcelo, Presidente ausenta-se de homenagem" (in Portuguese). RTP. 2 September 2021. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  9. ↑ "Eanes e Balsemão: o princípio da desconfiança" (in Portuguese). Expresso. 19 January 2016. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  10. ↑ "O primeiro braço--de-ferro entre um Governo de direita e os sindicatos" (in Portuguese). Público. 12 February 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  11. ↑ "Demissão Pinto Balsemão" (in Portuguese). RTP. 8 September 2015. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  12. ↑ "Presidente da República dissolve Assembleia da República, em 1983 ", RTP, 8 September 2015. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  13. ↑ "Balsemão e o fim da AD em 1983: "A desagregação da AD é tão grande que o Governo começa a cair antes de saber os resultados eleitorais"" (in Portuguese). Expresso. 16 May 2025. Retrieved 23 April 2026.
  14. 1 2 "Pinto Balsemão, primeiro-ministro não eleito" (in Portuguese). Público. 29 June 2004. Retrieved 23 March 2025.
  15. ↑ "Declarações de Pinto Balsemão", RTP, 8 February 1983. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  16. 1 2 Mestrinho, Fernanda (1983-02-28). "PSD: um Congresso empatado". Diário de Lisboa. p. 5. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  17. ↑ "PSD Carlos Mota Pinto", PSD. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  18. ↑ "História CDS", CDS-PP. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  19. ↑ "Do CDS ao CDS-PP: o Partido do Centro Democrático Social e o seu papel na política portuguesa", Richard A. H. Robinson, 1996. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
  20. ↑ Anta, Manuel (1983-02-21). "CDS mais à direita?". Diário de Lisboa. p. 5. Retrieved 2026-03-15.
  21. ↑ "Constitution of the Portuguese Republic" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-03. Retrieved 2019-12-29.
  22. ↑ "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin. Retrieved 2015-10-21.
  23. ↑ Gallaher, Michael (1992). "Comparing Proportional Representation Electoral Systems: Quotas, Thresholds, Paradoxes and Majorities"
  24. ↑ "Eleição da Assembleia da República de 25 de Abril de 1983". CNE - Comissão Nacional de Eleições - Eleição da Assembleia da República de 25 de Abril de 1983. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  25. ↑ Composição dos Grupos Parlamentares/Partidos
  26. 1 2 3 4 "SOCIALISTS ARE FAVORED TO WIN THE PORTUGUESE ELECTION TODAY". The New York Times. 25 April 1983. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
  27. ↑ "AROUND THE WORLD; Portugal Is Off On Election Campaign". The New York Times. 5 April 1983. Retrieved 25 July 2026.
  28. ↑ "ELEIÇÕES LEGISLATIVAS DE 1983 – PSD". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  29. ↑ "Evolução da Comunicação Política e Eleitoral em Portugal" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  30. ↑ "ELEIÇÕES LEGISLATIVAS DE 1985 – CDS". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  31. ↑ "Comunicação Política em eleições legislativas em Portugal: uma análise a partir dos cartazes eleitorais (1975-2009)" (PDF). Francisco Teixeira (in Portuguese). Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  32. ↑ "Debate entre líderes partidários na RDP". RTP (in Portuguese). 1983. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  33. ↑ "Corpo a corpo esta noite na RTP". Fundação Mário Soares (in Portuguese). 1983. Retrieved 11 May 2020.
  34. ↑ "Mapa oficial. D.R. n.º 121, Suplemento, Série I de 1983-05-26" (PDF) (in Portuguese). Diário da República. 26 May 1983. Retrieved 22 June 2025.
  35. ↑ "A crise económica que levou Portugal a provar pela primeira vez a receita do FMI" (in Portuguese). Público. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  36. ↑ "Mota Pinto, o aliado de Soares que militava no PPD" (in Portuguese). Público. 15 January 2017. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  37. 1 2 "19 de Maio de 1985: O líder inesperado" (in Portuguese). Expresso. 17 May 2009. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  38. ↑ "A intenção de Mário Soares em demitir-se" (in Portuguese). Diário de Notícias. 14 June 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
  39. ↑ "1986: A ver Portugal (finalmente) na CEE" (in Portuguese). Expresso. 16 April 2023. Retrieved 8 August 2026.
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