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The 1983 Portuguese legislative election took place on 25 April. The election renewed all 250 members of the Assembly of the Republic. The last election, in October 1980 had been won by a right-wing coalition, the Democratic Alliance (AD) and
Francisco Sá Carneiro Francisco Manuel Lumbrales de Sá Carneiro (; 19 July 19344 December 1980) was a Portuguese politician, who was one of the founders and the first leader of the Social Democratic Party (then known as the Popular Democratic Party). He served as ...
had retained office as
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
with an increased majority. However, Sá Carneiro, along with other important members of the coalition, died in an aircrash only two months after the election, on 4 December 1980. Such happenings caused a massive political instability and
Francisco Pinto Balsemão Francisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão (; born 1 September 1937) is a Portuguese businessman, former journalist and retired politician, who served as List of Prime Ministers of Portugal, Prime Minister of Portugal, from 1981 to 1983. Backgroun ...
, a senior official of the
Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...
, the largest party in the Alliance, became Prime Minister. However, Balsemão's governments were very unstable and after the 1982 local elections results, he resigned as Prime Minister. The Social Democratic Party proposed possible names for Prime Minister to
President of Portugal The president of Portugal, officially the president of the Portuguese Republic (, ), is the head of state and highest office of Portugal. The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, and their relation with the prime minister ...
António Ramalho Eanes António dos Santos Ramalho Eanes (born 25 January 1935) is a Portuguese general and politician who was the 16th president of Portugal from 1976 to 1986. Background Born at Alcains, Castelo Branco, he is the son of Manuel dos Santos Eanes, ...
, but the President refused them and decided to call a snap election for April 1983. The election was won by the
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...
with 36 percent, and
Mário Soares Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares (; 7 December 1924 – 7 January 2017) was a Portugal, Portuguese politician, who served as prime minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the List of Presidents of P ...
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. In the election that followed, the Communist-dominated United People Alliance lost 3 MPs and the Democratic and Social Center, after the dissolution of the Democratic Alliance, was now alone in the Parliament with 30 MPs, a loss of 16. The election marked the beginning of a process of bi-polarization of Portuguese politics. This was the last legislative election to be won by the Socialist Party until
1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...
.


Background

In October 1980, the Democratic Alliance (AD), led by
Francisco Sá Carneiro Francisco Manuel Lumbrales de Sá Carneiro (; 19 July 19344 December 1980) was a Portuguese politician, who was one of the founders and the first leader of the Social Democratic Party (then known as the Popular Democratic Party). He served as ...
, was reelected with reinforced majority but it was cut short with the death of Sá Carneiro, his partner Snu Abecassis, his Defense minister
Adelino Amaro da Costa Adelino Manuel Lopes Amaro da Costa, GCIH (18 April 1943 – 4 December 1980) was a Portuguese politician. Background Costa was a son of Civil Engineer from the Instituto Superior Técnico of the Technical University of Lisbon (Universidad ...
and his wife, plus other crew members, in a tragic plane crash in
Camarate Camarate () is a former civil parish in the municipality of Loures, Lisbon District, Portugal. In 2013, the parish merged into the new parish Camarate, Unhos e Apelação. With a population of 23,000 inhabitants in 2001, the parish of Camarate e ...
,
Loures Loures () is a city and a municipality in Portugal which is part of the Lisbon District, District and Lisbon Metropolitan Area, Metropolitan area of Lisbon. It is the fifth most populous municipality in the country, with a total population of 201, ...
, shortly after taking off from the main runway of
Lisbon Airport Humberto Delgado Airport , informally Lisbon Airport and previously Portela Airport, is an international airport located northeast of the Baixa Pombalina, historical city centre of Lisbon, Portugal. With more than 35 million passengers per yea ...
. This tragic air crash sparked a series of conspirancy theories, mainly because of Portugal's involvement in the
Iran–Iraq War The Iran–Iraq War, also known as the First Gulf War, was an armed conflict between Iran and Iraq that lasted from September 1980 to August 1988. Active hostilities began with the Iraqi invasion of Iran and lasted for nearly eight years, unti ...
and the supply of weapons to both Iraq and Iran. Following the death of Sá Carneiro,
Diogo Freitas do Amaral Diogo Pinto de Freitas do Amaral (; 21 July 1941 – 3 October 2019) was a Portuguese politician and law professor. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 10 January 1980 to 12 January 1981 and from 12 March 2005 to 3 July 2006. He also serv ...
,
CDS CDS, CDs, Cds, etc. may refer to: Finance * Canadian Depository for Securities, Canadian post-trade financial services company * Certificate of deposit (CDs) * Counterfeit Deterrence System, developed by the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence ...
leader, became interim Prime Minister until the election of a new PSD leader. Days later,
Francisco Pinto Balsemão Francisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão (; born 1 September 1937) is a Portuguese businessman, former journalist and retired politician, who served as List of Prime Ministers of Portugal, Prime Minister of Portugal, from 1981 to 1983. Backgroun ...
was elected PSD leader and sworn in as Prime Minister.


Government fall

Pinto Balsemão had a lot of problems in leading the government, as he lacked support from many senior members of his party, like
Aníbal Cavaco Silva Aníbal António Cavaco Silva (; born 15 July 1939) is a Portuguese economist and politician who served as the 19th president of Portugal, from 9 March 2006 to 9 March 2016, and as prime minister of Portugal, from 6 November 1985 to 25 October ...
, former Finance minister under Sá Carneiro, and several ministers also resigned. Moreover, the right-wing policy was criticized by the left-wing and by the trade unions, and in February 1982, the
General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers The General Confederation of the Portuguese Workers (Portuguese: Confederação Geral dos Trabalhadores Portugueses or CGTP) is the largest trade union federation in Portugal. It was founded informally in 1970, emerged publicly after the Carnation ...
, with the support of the Communists, called for a
general strike A general strike is a strike action in which participants cease all economic activity, such as working, to strengthen the bargaining position of a trade union or achieve a common social or political goal. They are organised by large coalitions ...
that shook the government. The wave of resignations among Balsemão's ministers continued and by the end of 1982, and also influenced by the AD's bad results in the 1982 local elections, Balsemão himself also resigned. The Social Democratic Party proposed, to
President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...
Ramalho Eanes Ramalho is a Portuguese surname. Ramalho may refer to: People *João Ramalho (1493–1580), Portuguese explorer *Ramalho Ortigão (1836–1915), Portuguese writer *Rosa Ramalho (1888–1977), Portuguese ceramist *José Ramalho (rower) (1901–1967) ...
, a government led by
Vítor Crespo Vítor is a Portuguese and Brazilian masculine given name, equivalent to Victor (name), Victor in English and Víctor in Spanish. Footballers * Vítor Gonçalves (footballer, born 1896) (1896–1965), Portuguese * Vítor Silva (1909–1982), Portu ...
, but President Eanes rejects the proposal citing that the political conditions were just too deteriorated, thus he decided to dissolve the Parliament and call an election for April. Shortly after, the AD was dissolved as PSD, CDS and PPM decided to contest by their own the April snap election.


Leadership changes and challenges


PSD 1980 leadership election

On 13 December 1980, just a few days after Sá Carneiro's death, the PSD national party council elected
Francisco Pinto Balsemão Francisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão (; born 1 September 1937) is a Portuguese businessman, former journalist and retired politician, who served as List of Prime Ministers of Portugal, Prime Minister of Portugal, from 1981 to 1983. Backgroun ...
as party leader and nominated him to became
Prime Minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...
. Balsemão was sworn in as Prime Minister on 9 January 1981. , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px", Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px", Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px", % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,
Francisco Pinto Balsemão Francisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão (; born 1 September 1937) is a Portuguese businessman, former journalist and retired politician, who served as List of Prime Ministers of Portugal, Prime Minister of Portugal, from 1981 to 1983. Backgroun ...
, align=right , 59 , align=right , 96.7 , - , colspan=2 align=left , Against , align=right , 1 , align=right , 1.6 , - , colspan=2 align=left , Blank/Invalid ballots , align=right , 1 , align=right , 1.6 , - , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Turnout , align=right , 61 , align=center , , - , colspan="4" align=left, Source:


CDS 1983 leadership election

After the dissolution of the Democratic Alliance (AD),
Diogo Freitas do Amaral Diogo Pinto de Freitas do Amaral (; 21 July 1941 – 3 October 2019) was a Portuguese politician and law professor. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 10 January 1980 to 12 January 1981 and from 12 March 2005 to 3 July 2006. He also serv ...
resigned from the party's leadership, and a new congress to elect a new leader was called. Two candidates were on the ballot, Francisco Lucas Pires and Luís Barbosa, with Lucas Pires being elected as new party leader. , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px", Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px", Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px", % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Francisco Lucas Pires , align=center , WIN , align=right , , - , bgcolor=, , align=left , Luís Barbosa , align=center , , align=right , , - , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Turnout , align=right , , align=center , , - , colspan="4" align=left, Source:


PSD 1983 nomination selection

Just like CDS, after the collapse of the AD coalition, the then PSD leader
Francisco Pinto Balsemão Francisco José Pereira Pinto Balsemão (; born 1 September 1937) is a Portuguese businessman, former journalist and retired politician, who served as List of Prime Ministers of Portugal, Prime Minister of Portugal, from 1981 to 1983. Backgroun ...
announces he would not run for the leadership of the party. Shortly after,
Carlos Mota Pinto Carlos Alberto da Mota Pinto (; 25 July 1936 – 7 May 1985) was a Portuguese professor and politician who served as the prime minister of Portugal between November 1978 and August 1979. Mota Pinto was one of the first members of the Soc ...
is selected by the PSD as the party's candidate for Prime Minister. , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px", Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px", Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px", % , - , bgcolor=, , align=left ,
Carlos Mota Pinto Carlos Alberto da Mota Pinto (; 25 July 1936 – 7 May 1985) was a Portuguese professor and politician who served as the prime minister of Portugal between November 1978 and August 1979. Mota Pinto was one of the first members of the Soc ...
, align=center , , align=right , 100.0 , - , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" , colspan=2 style="text-align:left;" , Turnout , align=right , , align=center , , - , colspan="4" align=left, Source:


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 A motion or vote of no confidence (or the inverse, a motion or vote of confidence) is a motion and corresponding vote thereon in a deliberative assembly (usually a legislative body) as to whether an officer (typically an executive) is deemed fi ...
to be approved. The number of seats assigned to each district depends on the
district magnitude An electoral (congressional, legislative, etc.) district, sometimes called a constituency, riding, or ward, is a geographical portion of a political unit, such as a country, state or province, city, or administrative region, created to provi ...
. The use of the
d'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is an apportionment method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in proportional representation among political parties. It belongs to ...
makes for a higher effective threshold than certain other allocation methods such as the
Hare quota The Hare quota (sometimes called the simple, ideal, or Hamilton quota) is the number of voters represented by each legislator in an idealized system of proportional representation where every vote is used to elect someone. The Hare quota is eq ...
or
Sainte-Laguë method The Webster method, also called the Sainte-Laguë method (), is a highest averages apportionment method for allocating seats in a parliament among federal states, or among parties in a party-list proportional representation system. The Sainte- ...
, which are more generous to small parties. For these elections, and compared with the 1980 elections, the MPs distributed by districts were the following:


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:


Campaign period


Party slogans


Candidates' debates


Opinion polling


Results


National summary

, - , colspan=10, , - ! rowspan="2" colspan=2 style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=left, Parties ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=Votes ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=% ! rowspan="2" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=± ! colspan="5" style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align="center", Seats , - style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align=center,
1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a United States grain embargo against the Soviet Union, grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning Sys ...
! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align=center, 1983 ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=± ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=% ! style="background-color:#E9E9E9" align=± , - , , 2,061,309, , 36.11, , 8.4, , 66, , 101, , 35, , 40.40, , 10.8 , - , , 1,554,804, , 27.24, , , , 82, , 75, , 7, , 30.00, , 2.8 , - , , 1,031,609, , 18.07, , 1.3, , 41, , 44, , 3, , 17.60, , 1.2 , - , , 716,705, , 12.56, , , , 46, , 30, , 16, , 12.00, , 6.4 , - , , 39,180, , 0.69, , , , , , 0, , , , 0.00, , , - , , 27,635, , 0.48, , , , 6, , 0, , 6, , 0.00, , 2.4 , - , style="width: 10px" bgcolor= align="center" , , align=left, People's Democratic Union , 27,260, , 0.48, , 0.9, , 1, , 0, , 1, , 0.00, , 0.4 , - , style="width: 10px" bgcolor= align="center" , , align=left, People's Democratic Union / PSR , 25,222, , 0.44, , , , , , 0, , , , 0.00, , , - , , 20,995, , 0.37, , 0.2, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0.00, , 0.0 , - , , 19,657, , 0.34, , 1.1, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0.00, , 0.0 , - , , 13,327, , 0.23, , 0.8, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0.00, , 0.0 , - , , 11,500, , 0.20, , , , , , 0, , , , 0.00, , , - , , 6,113, , 0.11, , 0.0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0.00, , 0.0 , - , , 5,523, , 0.10, , 0.0, , 0, , 0, , 0, , 0.00, , 0.0 , - , , 86, , 0.00, , , , , , 0, , , , 0.00, , , - , colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9", Total valid , width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 5,560,925 , width="42" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 97.43 , width="42" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 0.3 , width="42" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 250 , width="42" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 250 , width="42" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 0 , width="42" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 100.00 , width="43" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 0.0 , - , colspan=2, Blank ballots , 42,494, , 0.74, , 0.1, , colspan=5 rowspan=4, , - , colspan=2, Invalid ballots , 104,276, , 1.83, , 0.1 , - , colspan=2 align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9", Total , width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 5,707,695 , width="42" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 100.00 , width="42" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", , - , colspan=2, Registered voters/turnout , , 7,337,064, , 77.79, , 6.1 , - , colspan=10 align=left , Source
Comissão Nacional de EleiçõesMapa oficial. D.R. n.º 121, Suplemento, Série I de 1983-05-26


Distribution by constituency

, - class="unsortable" !rowspan=2, Constituency!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S !rowspan=2, Total
S , - class="unsortable" style="text-align:center;" !colspan=2 , PS !colspan=2 , PSD !colspan=2 , APU !colspan=2 ,
CDS CDS, CDs, Cds, etc. may refer to: Finance * Canadian Depository for Securities, Canadian post-trade financial services company * Certificate of deposit (CDs) * Counterfeit Deterrence System, developed by the Central Bank Counterfeit Deterrence ...
, - , style="text-align:left;" ,
Azores The Azores ( , , ; , ), officially the Autonomous Region of the Azores (), is one of the two autonomous regions of Portugal (along with Madeira). It is an archipelago composed of nine volcanic islands in the Macaronesia region of the North Atl ...
, 31.1 , 2 , style="background:; color:white;", 54.4 , 3 , 3.1 , - , 4.7 , - , 5 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Aveiro , style="background:; color:white;", 36.6 , 6 , 34.8 , 6 , 7.0 , 1 , 16.4 , 2 , 15 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Beja , 28.0 , 2 , 11.8 , - , style="background:red; color:white;", 49.4 , 3 , 4.1 , - , 5 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,
Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...
, style="background:; color:white;", 39.7 , 7 , 27.0 , 5 , 8.8 , 1 , 18.3 , 3 , 16 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,
Bragança Bragança may refer to: People *Jaime Celestino Dias Bragança, a Portuguese footballer Politics and History *House of Bragança - A Portuguese Royal House *Duke of Bragança - A Portuguese noble, and later royal, title * Bragança - One of the m ...
, 30.4 , 1 , style="background:; color:white;", 35.8 , 2 , 4.8 , - , 20.9 , 1 , 4 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Castelo Branco , style="background:; color:white;", 37.1 , 3 , 30.6 , 2 , 11.3 , - , 13.2 , 1 , 6 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,
Coimbra Coimbra (, also , , or ), officially the City of Coimbra (), is a city and a concelho, municipality in Portugal. The population of the municipality at the 2021 census was 140,796, in an area of . The fourth-largest agglomerated urban area in Po ...
, style="background:; color:white;", 45.3 , 6 , 27.8 , 3 , 10.7 , 1 , 10.2 , 1 , 11 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,
Évora Évora ( , ), officially the Very Noble and Ever Loyal City of Évora (), is a city and a municipalities of Portugal, municipality in Portugal. It has 53,591 inhabitants (2021), in an area of . It is the historic capital of the Alentejo reg ...
, 23.9 , 1 , 18.6 , 1 , style="background:red; color:white;", 47.6 , 3 , 4.5 , - , 5 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Faro , style="background:; color:white;", 43.2 , 5 , 23.1 , 2 , 18.6 , 2 , 7.4 , - , 9 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,
Guarda Guarda may refer to: * Guarda, Portugal, city in Portugal * Guarda District, the district containing that city * Roman Catholic Diocese of Guarda, Portugal, the diocese containing that city * Guarda, Switzerland, municipality in Grisons, Switzerlan ...
, style="background:; color:white;", 33.5 , 2 , 31.5 , 2 , 4.9 , - , 23.8 , 1 , 5 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,
Leiria Leiria () is a city and municipality in the Central Region, Portugal, Central Region of Portugal. It is the 2nd largest city in that same region, after Coimbra, with a municipality population of 128,640 (as of 2021) in an area of . It is the seat o ...
, 32.7 , 4 , style="background:; color:white;", 35.6 , 4 , 9.5 , 1 , 16.2 , 2 , 11 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,
Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...
, style="background:; color:white;", 35.8 , 21 , 21.8 , 13 , 25.3 , 15 , 11.7 , 7 , 56 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,
Madeira Madeira ( ; ), officially the Autonomous Region of Madeira (), is an autonomous Regions of Portugal, autonomous region of Portugal. It is an archipelago situated in the North Atlantic Ocean, in the region of Macaronesia, just under north of ...
, 24.4 , 1 , style="background:; color:white;", 56.2 , 4 , 2.8 , - , 8.2 , - , 5 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Portalegre , style="background:; color:white;", 38.5 , 2 , 19.1 , 1 , 28.7 , 1 , 7.5 , - , 4 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,
Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...
, style="background:; color:white;", 43.0 , 18 , 26.2 , 10 , 13.6 , 5 , 12.5 , 5 , 38 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Santarém , style="background:; color:white;", 38.4 , 5 , 24.7 , 3 , 20.0 , 3 , 10.0 , 1 , 12 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,
Setúbal Setúbal ( , , ; ), officially the City of Setúbal (), is a city and a municipality in Portugal. The population of the entire municipality in 2014 was 118,166, occupying an area of . The city itself had 89,303 inhabitants in 2001. It lies withi ...
, 30.6 , 6 , 12.7 , 2 , style="background:red; color:white;", 45.8 , 8 , 5.1 , 1 , 17 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,
Viana do Castelo Viana do Castelo () is a concelho, municipality and seat of the district of Viana do Castelo District, Viana do Castelo in the Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2021 was 85,778, in an area of . The urbanized are ...
, 32.5 , 2 , style="background:; color:white;", 32.6 , 3 , 9.9 , - , 18.4 , 1 , 6 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,
Vila Real Vila Real () is the capital and largest city of the Vila Real District, in the Norte, Portugal, North region, Portugal. It is also the seat of the Douro (intermunicipal community), Douro Intermunicipal communities of Portugal, intermunicipal comm ...
, 32.3 , 2 , style="background:; color:white;", 42.0 , 3 , 5.4 , - , 12.7 , 1 , 6 , - , style="text-align:left;" ,
Viseu Viseu () is a city and municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal and the capital of the Viseu District, district of the same name, with a population of 100,105 inhabitants in the entire municipality, and center of the Viseu Dão Lafões Interm ...
, 30.9 , 4 , style="background:; color:white;", 36.6 , 4 , 4.6 , - , 20.7 , 2 , 10 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Europe , style="background:; color:white;", 33.6 , 1 , 31.2 , 1 , 17.1 , - , 11.1 , - , 2 , - , style="text-align:left;" , Outside Europe , 7.0 , - , style="background:; color:white;", 48.2 , 1 , 2.8 , - , 34.1 , 1 , 2 , - , - class="unsortable" style="background:#E9E9E9" , style="text-align:left;" , Total , style="background:; color:white;", 36.1 , 101 , 27.2 , 75 , 18.1 , 44 , 12.6 , 30 , 250 , - , colspan=10 style="text-align:left;" , Source
Comissão Nacional de Eleições


Maps

File:1983 Portuguese legislative election district results.svg, Winner and seats by constituency. File:Legislativas portuguesas de 1983 (Mapa).png, Most voted political force by
municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...
.


Aftermath


Fall of the government

The Central Bloc government had become deeply unpopular by 1984, with the consequences of the
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution funded by 191 member countries, with headquarters in Washington, D.C. It is regarded as the global lender of las ...
(IMF) bailout to save public finances and the economy hitting hard on the population. 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 Social democracy is a social, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achieving social equality. In modern practice, s ...
, these rifts came to a breaking point in February 1985 with party leader
Carlos Mota Pinto Carlos Alberto da Mota Pinto (; 25 July 1936 – 7 May 1985) was a Portuguese professor and politician who served as the prime minister of Portugal between November 1978 and August 1979. Mota Pinto was one of the first members of the Soc ...
resigning and announcing he would contest the next leadership ballot. But, Mota Pinto died unexpectedly just days prior to the 1985 PSD congress and
Aníbal Cavaco Silva Aníbal António Cavaco Silva (; born 15 July 1939) is a Portuguese economist and politician who served as the 19th president of Portugal, from 9 March 2006 to 9 March 2016, and as prime minister of Portugal, from 6 November 1985 to 25 October ...
, which was against the Central Bloc, was elected as leader. Shortly after his election as party leader, Cavaco Silva withdraws the PSD support to the Central Bloc, and the government falls. President Ramalho Eanes decides to dissolve Parliament and call a snap election for 6 October 1985.


Notes


References


External links


Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Centro de Estudos do Pensamento Político


See also

*
Politics of Portugal Politics in Portugal operates as a Unitary state, unitary Multi-party system, multi-party Semi-presidential system, semi-presidential Representative democracy, representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Portugal is the hea ...
*
List of political parties in Portugal This article lists political parties in Portugal. The Portuguese political scene has been dominated by the Socialist Party (Portugal), Socialist Party and the Social Democratic Party (Portugal), Social Democratic Party since the 1974 Carnation Re ...
*
Elections in Portugal Elections in Portugal are free, fair, and regularly held, in accordance with election law. Only the elections since the Carnation Revolution of 1974 are listed here. During the period encompassing the Constitutional Monarchy and the First Republ ...
{{Portuguese elections Legislative elections in Portugal 1983 elections in Portugal April 1983 in Europe