Democratic Renovator Party
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The Democratic Renovator Party (Portuguese: Partido Renovador Democrático, pron. IPA: [pɐɾ'tiðu ʁɨnuvɐ'ðoɾ dɨmu'kɾatiku], or PRD) was a former Portuguese political party, founded in 1985 with the political support of the until then independent President of the Republic, Ramalho Eanes. At the time of its foundation, it was meant to Moralize the Portuguese political life and the party positioned itself on the political center. The first leader of the party was Hermínio Martinho.
Short time after its foundation, the PRD profited with the dissolution of the Portuguese parliament, occupied at the time with a grand coalition between the Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party. Due to a disastrous economic policy, Ramalho Eanes dissolved the parliament and called a new election where the newly founded PRD surprisingly achieved 18% of the voting and 45 MPs. The election did not give the majority of the seats to any party, and so, the most voted party, the Social Democratic Party, made a minority government with PRD tactical support, sending the former partners, the Socialists, to the opposition.
In the local elections of 1985, the party would show, however, difficulties, achieving only 5% of the voting and few mandates. In the following presidential election, in 1986, the party would support Salgado Zenha along with the Portuguese Communist Party, but the candidate did not manage to reach the second round.
In 1987, the party would take a decision that would lead to its end, voting a motion of no-confidence along with the Communists and the Socialists, making the first government of Aníbal Cavaco Silva, elected in 1985, fall. In the subsequent legislative election, the party would lose the most of its voting, almost disappearing from the parliament, losing 38 of its 45 MPs. Meanwhile, Ramalho Eanes had replaced Hermínio Martinho in the leadership of the party, a task he would leave after the electoral disaster.
In the European Parliament election of 1989, the party made an agreement with the Socialist Party and elected one MEP inside the Socialist lists, Pedro Canavarro. In the legislative election of 1991, the party, at the time lead by Canavarro, lost all of its parliamentary representation.
