Socialist Party (Portugal)

The Socialist Party (Portuguese: Partido Socialista; pronounced: [pɐɾˈtiðu susiɐˈliʃtɐ]), abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic^[1] political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action (Portuguese: Acção Socialista Portuguesa).

The current leader is António José Seguro. José Sócrates, the former Prime Minister of Portugal, was the leader of the leader of the party until 5 June 2011. The party has currently 74 of 230 seats in the Portuguese Parliament and lost the June 2011 election. The Socialist Party stands out as about a third of its members in the Assembly of the Republic are women.

Sócrates resigned as General Secretary on election night of 5 June 2011, due to having lost the general election by a margin higher that expected. Seguro was elected as leader of the party on July 23, winning 68% of the vote against his challenger, Francisco Assis, who got 32%.

PS is a member of the Socialist International and the Party of European Socialists, and has seven members in the European Parliament within the Socialists & Democrats (S&D) Group during the seventh parliament.

History

The PS is created at a conference of the Portuguese Socialist Action (ASP), at that time in exile, on April 19, 1973 in Bad Münstereifel in West Germany. The twenty-seven delegates decided to found a party of socialism and freedom, making an explicit reference to a classless society and without Marxism, redesigned as a source of principal inspiration.

On 25 April 1974, the Carnation Revolution brought down the authoritarian regime of the Estado Novo, established in 1933, and democracy was restored. The general secretary of the PS, Mário Soares, returned to Portugal after being in exile in France, and became foreign minister, and António de Almeida Santos was appointed Minister of interjurisdictional coordination in one of the first provisional governments.

After the Revolution, elections were called for the 25 April 1975 and the Socialist Party (PS) won the 1975 election for the Constituent Assembly and the 1976 elections for the National Assembly, then losing to the centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) in the 1979 elections.

In 1980, the PS made an electoral alliance called the Republican and Socialist Front (FRS), between the Independent Social Democrats (ASDI), led by Sousa Franco, and the Leftwing Union for the Socialist Democracy (UEDS), led by Lopes Cardoso. The alliance failed to defeat the AD.

They won the 1983 general elections, but without an absolute majority, the Socialists made a coalition with the centre-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), forming a "Central Block". The new government began negotiations for Portugal to enter the EEC. In 1985 the Central Block broke down and the PS at the time led by Almeida Santos, lost the 1985 election. Cavaco Silva's PSD won the 1985 elections and again in 1987 and 1991 with absolute majority. The PS was in opposition for more than ten years.

In 1995, the Socialist Party, then led by António Guterres, won the general elections for the first time in ten years, and in 1999, they failed to obtain what would have been an historic absolute majority for the party by only one MP. In 2001, after a massive defeat in the 2001 local elections, António Guterres resigned as Prime Minister and called for new elections in 2002. The Socialist Party lost the 2002 general elections by a small margin to the Social Democratic Party.

In June 2004, the PS won the European Parliament elections by a landslide, and a few weeks later, Durão Barroso, leader of the PSD and Prime Minister, resigned to become President of the European Commission. In December 2004, Jorge Sampaio, President of the Republic, called fresh elections for February 2005. These elections resulted in a landslide victory for the PS, winning for the first time since its foundation an absolute majority. José Sócrates, leader of the PS, became Prime Minister.

In 2009, after four-and-a-half years in power, the PS lost the European Parliament elections to the PSD. However, they won the general elections held on 27 September but failed to renew the absolute majority they won in 2005.

The financial crisis of 2011 hit Portugal very hard, prompting Sócrates' government to impose harsh austerity measures. On 23 March 2011, the entire opposition in Parliament said no to new measures proposed by the government. As a result of this, José Sócrates resigned as Prime Minister and early elections will take place on 5 June.

In the elections, the PS suffered a huge setback, with 28.1% of the vote, ten points behind the PSD, who will form a coalition with the People's Party. Sócrates resigned as General Secretary on election night after the PS's worst result since 1987. On 23 July, António José Seguro was elected as his successor.

Election results

List of important people

General Secretaries (Secretários-Gerais)

• Mário Soares: 1973–1986
• Almeida Santos (interim): 1986
• Vítor Constâncio: 1986–1989
• Jorge Sampaio: 1989–1992
• António Guterres: 1992–2002
• Ferro Rodrigues: 2002–2004
• José Sócrates: 2004–2011
• António José Seguro: 2011–

Prime Ministers

• Mário Soares: 1976–1978, 1983–1985
• António Guterres: 1995–2002
• José Sócrates: 2005–2011

Presidents of the Republic

• Mário Soares: 1986–1996
• Jorge Sampaio: 1996–2006

See also

• Politics of Portugal
• List of political parties in Portugal

• Socialist Party
• Republican and Socialist Front
• Spanish Socialist Workers' Party

References

External links

• Official Website (in Portuguese)
• Official Website - Featured links (list in Portuguese, links to international websites in English)
• Socialist Internacional
• Party of European Socialists