1980 Portuguese legislative election
Template:Short description Script error: No such module "infobox".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". The 1980 Portuguese legislative election took place on 5 October. The election renewed all 250 members of the Assembly of the Republic.
In January 1980, the Democratic Alliance, which had won the previous election, on 2 December 1979, entered office with Francisco Sá Carneiro leading the government. However, this election was an extraordinary election and because of Fixed-term Parliament rules, in 1980, another election was held.
The Democratic Alliance (AD) won, again, and increased the majority they had achieved 10 months before, in December 1979. The AD won almost 48 percent of the votes and gathered 134 seats, six more.[1] The Socialist Party (PS), now leading a broad coalition called Republican and Socialist Front, got basically the same vote share and seats as in 1979. The Communist led alliance, United People Alliance (APU) lost some ground, gathering almost 17 percent of the votes, 2 percentage points lower than 10 months earlier.
Turnout was one of the highest ever, almost 84 percent, and in terms of ballots cast, the more than 6 million votes cast was a record in Portuguese elections for 44 years after being surpassed in the 2024 legislative election.
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.[2]
The number of seats assigned to each district depends on the district magnitude.[3] 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.[4]
For these elections, and compared with the 1979 elections, the MPs distributed by districts were the following:[5]
| District | Number of MPs | Map |
|---|---|---|
| Lisbon | 56 | |
| Porto | 38 | |
| Setúbal | 17 | |
| Aveiro and Braga | 15 | |
| Santarém and Coimbra | 12 | |
| Leiria | 11 | |
| Viseu | 10 | |
| Faro | 9 | |
| Castelo Branco, Viana do Castelo and Vila Real | 6 | |
| Azores, Beja, Évora, Guarda and Madeira | 5 | |
| Bragança and Portalegre | 4 | |
| Europe and Outside Europe | 2 |
Parties
The table below lists the parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic during the second half of the 1st legislature (1976–1980), as the 1979 election was a national by-election, and that also contested the elections:
| Name | Ideology | Political position | Leader | 1979 result[6] | Seats at dissolution | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | Seats | |||||||
| style="background:Template:Party color;"| | PPD/PSD | Social Democratic Party Partido Social DemocrataScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Liberal conservatism | Centre-right | Francisco Sá Carneiro | 45.3% Template:Efn |
Template:Composition bar | Template:Composition bar |
| style="background:Template:Party color;"| | CDS | Democratic and Social Center Centro Democrático e SocialScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Christian democracy | Centre-right to right-wing |
Diogo Freitas do Amaral | Template:Composition bar | Template:Composition bar | |
| style="background:Template:Party color;"| | PPM | People's Monarchist Party Partido Popular MonárquicoScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Monarchism Green conservatism |
Right-wing | Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles | Template:Composition bar | Template:Composition bar | |
| style="background:Template:Party color;"| | PS | Socialist Party Partido SocialistaScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Social democracy | Centre-left | Mário Soares | 27.3% Template:Efn |
Template:Composition bar | Template:Composition bar |
| PCP | Portuguese Communist Party Partido Comunista PortuguêsScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Communism Marxism–Leninism |
Far-left | Álvaro Cunhal | 18.8% Template:Efn |
Template:Composition bar | Template:Composition bar | |
| style="background:Template:Party color;"| | MDP/CDE | Portuguese Democratic Movement Movimento Democrático PortuguêsScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Left-wing nationalism Democratic socialism |
Left-wing | José Manuel Tengarrinha | Template:Composition bar | Template:Composition bar | |
| style="background:Template:Party color;"| | UDP | Popular Democratic Union União Democrática PopularScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Marxism Socialism |
Left-wing | Mário Tomé | 2.2% | Template:Composition bar | Template:Composition bar |
| MR | The Reformers Os ReformadoresScript error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Francisco Sousa Tavares (left the Social Democratic Party caucus)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". José Medeiros Ferreira (left the Social Democratic Party caucus)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Armando Adão Silva (left the Social Democratic Party caucus)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Nuno Maria Matos (left the Social Democratic Party caucus)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". Pelágio Madureira (left the Social Democratic Party caucus)Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters". |
Template:Composition bar | |||||
Seat changes
- In January 1980, MPs Francisco Sousa Tavares, José Medeiros Ferreira, Armando Adão Silva, Nuno Maria Matos and Pelágio Madureira, elected in the Democratic Alliance lists, left the Social Democratic Party caucus and formed their own parliamentary group, the Reformers, following the agreement made with AD in order for them to be elected.[7]
Campaign period
Party slogans
| Party or alliance | Original slogan | English translation | Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AD | « Garantir o progresso. » | "Ensure progress." | [8] | |
| width="1" bgcolor="Template:Party color"| | FRS | « Um governo para todos. A sua segurança. » | "A government for all. Your safety." | [9] |
| bgcolor="Template:Party color"| | APU | « Vota APU, para a vitória de Abril » | "Vote APU, for the victory of April" | [10] |
| bgcolor="Template:Party color"| | UDP | « Abril de novo pela força do povo » | "April again by the strength of the people" | [11] |
Opinion polling
| Polling firm/Link | Date Released | AD | FRS | APU | UDP | O | Lead | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| | style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| | style="color:inherit;background:Template:Party color;"| | ||||||
| 1980 legislative election | 5 Oct 1980 | 47.6 Template:Font |
27.8 Template:Font |
16.8 Template:Font |
1.4 Template:Font |
6.4 Template:Font |
19.8 | |
| AntroposTemplate:Efn | Sep 1980 | 52.0 | 32.4 | 13.8 | — | 1.8 | 19.6 | |
| Norma/Expresso | 12 Jul 1980 | 43.1 | 22.5 | 8.9 | 1.5 | 24.0 | 20.6 | |
| AntroposTemplate:Efn | Jul 1980 | 49.4 | 34.9 | 11.9 | — | 3.8 | 14.5 | |
| 1979 local elections | 16 Dec 1979 | 47.5 | 28.3 | 19.9 | 1.2 | 3.1 | 19.2 | |
| 1979 legislative election | 2 Dec 1979 | 45.3 Template:Font |
27.3 Template:Font |
18.8 Template:Font |
2.2 Template:Font |
6.4 Template:Font |
17.5 | |
.png){kind=link}
Results
National summary
| Parties | Votes | % | ± | Seats | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1979 | 1980 | ± | % | ± | ||||||
| Democratic AllianceTemplate:Efn | 2,706,667 | 44.91 | Increase2.4 | 121 | 126 | Increase5 | 50.40 | Increase2.0 | ||
| bgcolor="Template:Party color" | | Social DemocraticTemplate:Efn | 147,644 | 2.45 | Increase0.1 | 7 | 8 | Increase1 | 3.20 | Increase0.4 | |
| bgcolor="Template:Party color" | | Democratic and Social CentreTemplate:Efn | 13,765 | 0.23 | Decrease0.2 | 0 | 0 | Steady0 | 0.00 | Steady0.0 | |
| Total Democratic Alliance | 2,868,076 | 47.59 | Increase2.3 | 128 | 134 | Increase6 | 53.60 | Increase2.4 | ||
| style="background-color:Template:Party color;border-bottom-style:hidden;" rowspan="3"| | bgcolor="Template:Party color" align="center" | | Republican and Socialist FrontTemplate:EfnTemplate:Efn | 1,606,198 | 26.65 | — | — | 71 | — | 28.40 | — |
| bgcolor="Template:Party color" | | SocialistTemplate:Efn | 67,081 | 1.11 | — | 74 | 3 | — | 1.20 | — | |
| Total Republican and Socialist Front | 1,673,279 | 27.76 | Increase0.4 | 74 | 74 | Steady0 | 29.60 | Steady0.0 | ||
| United People AllianceTemplate:Efn | 1,009,505 | 16.75 | Decrease2.0 | 47 | 41 | Decrease6 | 16.40 | Decrease2.4 | ||
| colspan="2" style="width: 10px" bgcolor=Template:Party color align="center" | | People's Democratic Union | 83,204 | 1.38 | Decrease0.8 | 1 | 1 | Steady0 | 0.40 | Steady0.0 | |
| colspan="2" style="width: 10px" bgcolor="Template:Party color" | | Workers Party of Socialist Unity | 83,095 | 1.38 | Increase1.2 | 0 | 0 | Steady0 | 0.00 | Steady0.0 | |
| Revolutionary Socialist | 60,496 | 1.00 | Increase0.4 | 0 | 0 | Steady0 | 0.00 | Steady0.0 | ||
| Labour | 39,408 | 0.65 | — | — | 0 | — | 0.00 | — | ||
| colspan="2" style="width: 10px" bgcolor="Template:Party color" | | Portuguese Workers' Communist | 35,409 | 0.59 | Decrease0.3 | 0 | 0 | Steady0 | 0.00 | Steady0.0 | |
| PDC / MIRN/PDP / FN | 23,819 | 0.40 | — | — | 0 | — | 0.00 | — | ||
| colspan="2" style="width: 10px" bgcolor="Template:Party color" | | Democratic Party of the Atlantic | 8,529 | 0.14 | — | — | 0 | — | 0.00 | — | |
| OCMLP | 3,913 | 0.06 | Increase0.0 | 0 | 0 | Steady0 | 0.00 | Steady0.0 | ||
| Total valid | 5,888,733 | 97.72 | Increase0.4 | 250 | 250 | Steady0 | 100.00 | Steady0 | ||
| Blank ballots | 34,552 | 0.57 | Decrease0.1 | |||||||
| Invalid ballots | 103,140 | 1.71 | Decrease0.3 | |||||||
| Total | 6,026,395 | 100.00 | ||||||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 7,179,023 | 83.94 | Increase1.0 | |||||||
| Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições | ||||||||||
Distribution by constituency
| Constituency | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | Total S |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AD | FRS | APU | PSD | PS | UDP | ||||||||
| Azores | 3.1 | - | style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"|57.0 | 4 | 27.3 | 1 | 1.3 | - | 5 | ||||
| Aveiro | 58.8 | 10 | 27.1 | 4 | 6.8 | 1 | 15 | ||||||
| Beja | 22.4 | 1 | 21.1 | 1 | style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"|47.1 | 3 | 1.3 | - | 5 | ||||
| Braga | 54.9 | 9 | 29.3 | 5 | 8.4 | 1 | 0.9 | - | 15 | ||||
| Bragança | 65.3 | 3 | 21.3 | 1 | 4.8 | - | 1.0 | - | 4 | ||||
| Castelo Branco | 51.0 | 4 | 30.3 | 2 | 10.5 | - | 0.7 | - | 6 | ||||
| Coimbra | 46.1 | 6 | 35.9 | 5 | 9.9 | 1 | 0.8 | - | 12 | ||||
| Template:Hs Évora | 29.2 | 1 | 18.7 | 1 | style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"|45.7 | 3 | 0.9 | - | 5 | ||||
| Faro | 37.2 | 4 | 34.7 | 4 | 16.7 | 1 | 1.9 | - | 9 | ||||
| Guarda | 60.6 | 4 | 26.3 | 1 | 5.0 | - | 0.7 | - | 5 | ||||
| Leiria | 59.8 | 7 | 22.7 | 3 | 9.7 | 1 | 1.0 | - | 11 | ||||
| Lisbon | 41.6 | 25 | 28.1 | 17 | 23.1 | 13 | 1.7 | 1 | 56 | ||||
| Madeira | 2.9 | - | style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"|63.6 | 4 | 16.5 | 1 | 4.5 | - | 5 | ||||
| Portalegre | 33.4 | 2 | 32.4 | 1 | 26.1 | 1 | 0.7 | - | 4 | ||||
| Porto | 46.6 | 19 | 34.3 | 14 | 11.9 | 5 | 1.4 | - | 38 | ||||
| Santarém | 42.1 | 6 | 30.4 | 4 | 19.0 | 2 | 1.2 | - | 12 | ||||
| Setúbal | 24.1 | 4 | 23.5 | 4 | style="background:Template:Party color; color:white;"|44.0 | 9 | 2.8 | - | 17 | ||||
| Viana do Castelo | 59.2 | 5 | 22.8 | 1 | 10.0 | - | 0.7 | - | 6 | ||||
| Vila Real | 62.1 | 5 | 22.8 | 1 | 5.1 | - | 0.8 | - | 6 | ||||
| Viseu | 66.8 | 8 | 20.9 | 2 | 5.0 | - | 0.6 | - | 10 | ||||
| Europe | 49.6 | 1 | 15.2 | - | 25.4 | 1 | 1.4 | - | 2 | ||||
| Outside Europe | 85.5 | 2 | 2.6 | - | 4.0 | - | 0.4 | - | 2 | ||||
| Total | 44.9 | 126 | 26.7 | 71 | 16.8 | 41 | 2.5 | 8 | 1.1 | 3 | 1.4 | 1 | 250 |
| Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições | |||||||||||||
Maps
-
Winner and seats by constituency.
-
Most voted political force by municipality.
Aftermath
Death of Francisco Sá Carneiro
Script error: No such module "Labelled list hatnote". Just two months after winning the 1980 elections, and while campaigning for the Democratic Alliance's candidate for the December 1980 Presidential election, Prime Minister Francisco Sá Carneiro and his Defense minister Adelino Amaro da Costa, along with their spouses Snu Abecassis and Maria Vaz Pires, respectively, and the plane's pilot, died in tragic air crash when the small aircraft they were on board crashed and burned in Camarate, Loures, shortly after taking off from the main runway of Lisbon Airport.[12] This tragic air crash sparked a series of conspirancy theories, mainly because of Portugal' involvement in the Iran–Iraq War and the supply of weapons to both Iraq and Iran.[13] Several investigations surrounding the crash were conducted and the official cause of the crash is still a matter of intense debate.[14] Diogo Freitas do Amaral was appointed as Interim Prime Minister until the election of Francisco Pinto Balsemão as PSD leader and subsequent nomination as Prime Minister.[15]
Fall of the government
The Balsemão governments were very unstable due to lack of leadership and deep disagreements between the three parties that composed the Democratic Alliance (AD). In the 1982 local elections, the AD was able to gather 42 percent of the votes, against the 31 percent of the PS and 20.5 percent of APU, but suffered loses and many within the coalition, mainly Diogo Freitas do Amaral, labeled the results as a disaster.[16] With this background, Pinto Balsemão resigned as Prime Minister and the PSD proposed names for Prime Minister to President António Ramalho Eanes. However, President Eanes refused to swear in a new AD government and dissolved Parliament by calling elections for 25 April 1983.[17]
Notes
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ "Vitória de Sá Carneiro nas eleições de 1980 ", RTP, 8 September 2015. Retrieved 9 June 2022.
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Gallaher, Michael (1992). "Comparing Proportional Representation Electoral Systems: Quotas, Thresholds, Paradoxes and Majorities"
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Composição dos Grupos Parlamentares/Partidos
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".
External links
See also
Script error: No such module "Navbox".