Conservative political party in Portugal
The
CDS ? People's Party
(
Portuguese
:
CDS ? Partido Popular
, derived from
Centro Democratico e Social ? Partido Popular
['s?t?u
d?mu'k?atiku
i
susi'a?
/
p??'tidu
pupu'la?]
,
CDS?PP
)
[1]
is a
conservative
[4]
[5]
[6]
and
Christian democratic
[6]
[7]
[8]
[9]
political party in Portugal
. It is characterized as being between the
centre-right
,
[10]
right-wing
[11]
and
far-right
[12]
[13]
of the political spectrum. In voting ballots, the party's name appears only as the People's Party, with the
abbreviation
CDS?PP unchanged.
The party was founded on 19 July 1974 during the
Carnation Revolution
. In
its first democratic elections in 1975
, the CDS-PP won 16 seats out of 230 ? increasing to 42 in the
1976 legislative election
. The party entered a short-lived coalition with the
Socialist Party
(PS) before joining the
Democratic Alliance
(AD). The party has been involved in
centre-right
coalitions with the
Social Democratic Party
(PSD) from 1980 to 1983 and again from 2002 to 2005. In the
2009 legislative election
, the party won 21 seats, its most since the
1985 election
, and increased it to 24
in 2011
, leading to it forming a
coalition government
with the PSD.
The party is a member of the
European People's Party
(EPP) and the
International Democracy Union
(IDU). The party also has autonomous organisations which share its political beliefs, the
People's Youth
and the
Federation of Christian Democratic Workers
.
After a disastrous result in the
2022 general elections
, which left the party with no seats in the Assembly of the Republic for the first time ever since its founding,
Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos
resigned as president,
[14]
being replaced by
MEP
Nuno Melo
in the 29th National Congress of the Party.
[15]
History
[
edit
]
Foundation
[
edit
]
The CDS-PP was founded on 19 July 1974 by
Diogo Freitas do Amaral
,
Paulo Lowndes Marques
,
[16]
Adelino Amaro da Costa
,
Basilio Horta
,
Vitor Sa Machado
,
Valentim Xavier Pintado
,
Joao Morais Leitao
and
Joao Porto
. By that time, Portugal was living an unstable political moment: instability, violence and great social tensions were evident after the
Carnation Revolution
held on 25 April of the same year. The then CDS declared itself as a party rigorously at the
centre
of the
political spectrum
, but by then it already counted with a major slice of Portuguese right-winger in its affiliations. On 13 January 1975, the leaders of the CDS-PP delivered at the Supreme Court of Justice the necessary documentation to legalise the party. The first congress was held on 25 January 1975, at the Rosa Mota Pavilion,
Porto
.
First years of opposition
[
edit
]
After 25 March 1975, a regime centred in social matters, state control of the economy and military leadership began its efforts to dominate the nation, which summed up with the
COPCON
(a post-revolutionary military organisation founded in 1974) and the constant attacks perpetrated on the western social democrat model, led the CDS to declare itself officially as an opposition party. Its 16 deputies cast the only votes against the Socialist-influenced Constitution of 1976, on 2 April. In the legislative election of 1976, the CDS achieved its objectives by having 42 deputies elected and so surpassing the
Portuguese Communist Party
(PCP).
The Democratic Alliance
[
edit
]
In 1979 the CDS proposed a coalition with the
Social Democratic Party
(PSD) and the
People's Monarchist Party
(PPM). The proposal brought about the creation of the
Democratic Alliance
(AD), headed by
Francisco Sa Carneiro
, which won the general elections of 1979 and 1980.
In the AD governments, the CDS was represented by five ministers and ten state secretaries, with the president of the party, Diogo Freitas do Amaral, being nominated to the offices of Deputy Prime Minister and
Minister of Foreign Affairs
(later nominated Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister).
On the night of 4 December 1980, Sa Carneiro and his
Minister of National Defence
,
Adelino Amaro da Costa
, were among those who died in a plane crash. Diogo Freitas do Amaral became caretaker prime minister until the formation of a new government, which
Francisco Pinto Balsemao
headed. This latter administration collapsed on 4 September 1981, after the resignation of Freitas do Amaral (both from the cabinet and from the party presidency). As a result, the Democratic Alliance ended.
An opposition of 20 years
[
edit
]
After the collapse of the AD, the party looked for a new leader and new direction. Freitas do Amaral's successor was
Adriano Moreira
, who, when having been unable to stop the party's negative performance, did not stand for re-election. Freitas do Amaral returned as party president, during a period characterised by the electoral success of the PSD,
Anibal Cavaco Silva
, to lead a rump of 4 deputies (later 5) in parliament. Freitas do Amaral left the party in 1992.
In 1992 a new generation took over the party and in March of that year, at the party's 10th Congress, the former president of the Centrist Youth (the then-youth organisation of the CDS),
Manuel Monteiro
, was elected to the presidency. A year later, at an extraordinary congress, the title People's Party ("Partido Popular") was added to the party's official name in an effort to emulate the
Spanish party of the same name
.
In 1993, the CDS-PP was expelled from the
European People's Party
(EPP), both for rejecting the
Maastricht Treaty
and therefore being not pro-integrationist enough and for not paying due membership fees.
[17]
The CDS-PP underwent an electoral recovery in the general election of 1995, electing 15 deputies. However, following poor electoral results in local elections in 1997, Manuel Monteiro resigned and was replaced at the party's Braga congress by Paulo Portas who defeated
Maria Jose Nogueira Pinto
. Portas proposed a return to the party's
Christian democratic
roots and set himself the challenge of keeping all 15 seats in parliament in the general election of 1999. This was accomplished.
The "Democratic Coalition"
[
edit
]
After a massive electoral defeat in the 2001 local elections, the
Socialist Party
(PS) Prime Minister
Antonio Guterres
resigned with a general election being held in early 2002. The PSD won a plurality, forcing them to enter into a coalition, 20 years after their previous coalition government with the CDS-PP. The CDS-PP gained three ministries: Paulo Portas as Minister of National Defence,
Bagao Felix
as
Minister of Social Security
and
Celeste Cardona
as
Minister of Justice
.
The CDS-PP contested the
2004 European election
in a joint electoral list with the PSD called
Forward Portugal
(FP), retaining its 2 MEPs.
In the summer of 2004, PSD Prime Minister
Jose Manuel Durao Barroso
, resigned to become president of the
European Commission
and in order to avoid an early general election, President
Jorge Sampaio
invited
Pedro Santana Lopes
to form a new PSD/CDS-PP coalition government. Due to low popularity and what was seen as the inept handling of the country by the new Prime Minister, parliament was dissolved after just four months on 30 November 2004 and a new general election was scheduled for February 2005.
2005 general election
[
edit
]
In the
2005 legislative election
, the CDS-PP obtained 7.2% of the vote and returning 12 deputies, losing two of its 14 deputies. The CDS-PP returned to opposition, with its coalition partner the PSD losing to the centre-left PS, whose leader
Jose Socrates
became Prime Minister. This electoral failure for the CDS-PP, along with the defeat of the PSD led to
Paulo Portas
's resignation as party leader and a congress to elect a new leader.
"Portugal 2009"
[
edit
]
After the resignation of Paulo Portas, who had led the CDS-PP for seven years, two candidates then emerged:
Telmo Correia
and
Jose Ribeiro e Castro
, with the former being looked on as a favourite, following the line and style of Paulo Portas. However, Jose Ribeiro e Castro with his 'Portugal 2009' platform was elected president of the CDS-PP. In May 2007, however, Paulo Portas was again elected as the leader of the party, amidst controversy.
The CDS-PP contested the
2009 European election
in a standalone list, retaining its 2 MEPs with 8.4% of the vote.
In the
2009 legislative election
, the party increased their share of the votes to 10.4% and won 21 seats, while remaining in opposition to Prime Minister Jose Socrates.
Return to government in 2011
[
edit
]
In the
2011 legislative election
, the CDS-PP increased its share of the vote yet again to 11.7%, returning 24 deputies. This, along with the victory of the PSD over the incumbent PS government, resulted in the CDS-PP joining a coalition government led by PSD leader and Prime Minister
Pedro Passos Coelho
, obtaining 5 ministries in the cabinet.
2014 European elections
[
edit
]
Th
2014 European election
had the CDS-PP once again form a joint list with the PSD, this time called the
Portugal Alliance
. The list received 27.7% of the vote, second place behind the PS, and returned a single MEP for the CDS-PP.
2015 general election and
Portugal a Frente
[
edit
]
The CDS-PP formed an alliance with the PSD ahead of the
2015 legislative election
, called
Portugal Ahead
(
Portugal a Frente,
PaF) with PSD leader and Prime Minister
Pedro Passos Coelho
leading the coalition. The PaF coalition, however, lost 25 seats and the parliamentary majority, though they were still comfortably ahead of the Socialist Party by more than 20 seats. President
Anibal Cavaco Silva
swore in Passos Coelho and his minority government, but ten days later the PaF government collapsed when the Communists, Greens and Left Bloc voted in favor of the Socialists' motion of no confidence. Socialist lead
Antonio Costa
was sworn in as Prime Minister on 26 November in a minority government, thrusting PaF into opposition. Passos Coelho declared the end of the Portugal Ahead coalition 16 December.
2019 European elections
[
edit
]
The
2019 European election
had the CDS-PP return to an individual list, rather than allying with the PSD. The CDS-PP again returned just a single MEP on 6.2% of the vote.
2019 general election
[
edit
]
Longtime leader Paulo Portas left the party's leadership after 20 years in December 2015. In March 2016,
Assuncao Cristas
, Portas's chosen successor, was overwhelmingly elected leader of the party over Miguel Mattos Chaves. Cristas became the party's first female leader. However, the subsequent legislative elections were disastrous for the party. The CDS-PP lost 13 of their previous 18 seats, leaving them with only five, and took less than 5% of the vote as Antonio Costa's Socialist government strengthened their position, but fell short of an absolute majority. Cristas resigned as CDS-PP as the election results became clear.
2022 general election
[
edit
]
A
snap election
was called for January 2022 after Costa's budget was rejected when the Left Bloc and Communists joined the right-wing parties in voting against it. The party was led by
Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos
, the leader of People's Youth, who narrowly won the 2020 leadership election. The election resulted in a surprise majority for Costa's Socialists after tightening polls, and the CDS-PP lost their five remaining seats on just 1.6% and for the first time since the restoration of democracy returned no members of the Assembly. The party received just 86,578 votes, less than half of their 2019 total. The CDS-PP's disastrous results were blamed partially on the rise of other right-wing parties,
Liberal Initiative
and
Chega!
, which both saw huge increases in support.
[18]
Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos, then the president of the party, resigned on the very same night.
[14]
In the following congress, he was replaced by CDS's single
MEP
,
Nuno Melo
.
[15]
Ideology
[
edit
]
A large ideological overlap exists between the CDS-PP and the
Social Democratic Party
(PSD).
[19]
The CDS-PP's original philosophy was based on
Christian democracy
,
[20]
and it was originally positioned in the
centre
.
[21]
A factional disagreement within the party between those that believed that the CDS-PP should be to the right of the PSD or in the political centre erupted.
[22]
The party shifted in the early 1990s under the leadership of
Manuel Monteiro
. It still considers itself to be a centrist party.
[23]
It has been also described as a
national conservative
party.
[24]
The party formerly had a
pro-EU
line, but switched under Monteiro,
[25]
becoming mildly
Eurosceptic
,
[26]
including opposing the
Maastricht Treaty
,
[27]
with this change of policy credited for ending the party's decline.
[20]
As a result of the change, the
European People's Party
(EPP) expelled the CDS-PP from the
EPP Group
in the European parliament, with the CDS-PP joining the
Union for Europe
(UfE) group instead. Monteiro's successor,
Paulo Portas
, continued the CDS-PP's Eurosceptic line,
[28]
but rejoined the EPP.
The CDS-PP has always strongly opposed the legalisation of abortion in Portugal and is officially an
anti-abortion
party. It had campaigned vigorously against the legalisation of abortion up to ten weeks in the
1998 referendum on abortion
and in the
2007 referendum
, where under the current law abortions are allowed up to 12 weeks if the mother's life or mental or physical health is at risk, up to 16 weeks in cases of rape and up to 24 weeks if the child may be born with an incurable disease or deformity; whereas the new law proposal will allow abortions on request up to the tenth week. The CDS-PP has proposed what it considers to be responsible alternatives based on the "right to life" to solve the problem of illegal abortion and of abortion itself.
Political positions
[
edit
]
Some of the party's proposals include:
Until 1991
[
edit
]
Political support
[
edit
]
In line with the two largest parties in Portuguese politics, but unlike the two
far-left
parties, the CDS-PP is a
big tent
party, with appeal across social and ideological groups.
[29]
The party's voters have a similar profile to the PSD.
[30]
It has low voter loyalty, with voter retention historically being half the level of the three other largest parties.
[31]
The major issue on which the voter profile differs most significantly from the other parties is
abortion
, where those that identify as
anti-abortion
are significantly more likely to vote for the CDS-PP.
[32]
The CDS-PP receives a considerable amount of support amongst farmers in the north, as well as among entrepreneurs and managers.
[33]
Organisation
[
edit
]
International affiliations
[
edit
]
The CDS-PP is a member party of the
International Democracy Union
(IDU) and
European People's Party
(EPP). One
MEP
currently sits in the
EPP Group
in the
European Parliament
.
It was formerly a member of the
European Union of Christian Democrats
(EUCD), as well as the EUCD-affiliated EPP's
political group
in the
European Parliament
, from 1986 to 1995. In 1995, the party ? under the more Eurosceptic leadership of
Manuel Monteiro
? was kicked out of the EPP; it left the EUCD and joined the
Union for Europe
group in the European Parliament.
[20]
In 2003, the party joined the
European Democrats
component of the
European People's Party?European Democrats
(EPP?ED) group. In 2006, it left the European Democrats ? now collapsing due to the formation of the
Movement for European Reform
? to join the EPP group proper.
Election results
[
edit
]
Assembly of the Republic
[
edit
]
Seat share in the Portuguese legislative elections
Election
|
Leader
|
Votes
|
%
|
Seats
|
+/-
|
Government
|
1975
|
Diogo Freitas do Amaral
|
434,879
|
7.6 (#4)
|
|
|
Constituent assembly
|
1976
|
876,007
|
16.0 (#3)
|
|
26
|
Opposition
[a]
|
Coalition
[a]
|
Opposition
|
1979
|
Democratic Alliance
|
|
1
|
Coalition
|
1980
|
Democratic Alliance
|
|
3
|
Coalition
|
1983
|
Lucas Pires
|
716,705
|
12.6 (#4)
|
|
16
|
Opposition
|
1985
|
577,580
|
10.0 (#5)
|
|
8
|
Confidence and supply
|
1987
|
Adriano Moreira
|
251,987
|
4.4 (#5)
|
|
18
|
Opposition
|
1991
|
Diogo Freitas do Amaral
|
254,317
|
4.4 (#4)
|
|
1
|
Opposition
|
1995
|
Manuel Monteiro
|
534,470
|
9.1 (#3)
|
|
10
|
Opposition
|
1999
|
Paulo Portas
|
451,543
|
8.3 (#4)
|
|
0
|
Opposition
|
2002
|
477,350
|
8.7 (#3)
|
|
1
|
Coalition
[b]
|
2005
|
416,415
|
7.2 (#4)
|
|
2
|
Opposition
|
2009
|
592,778
|
10.4 (#3)
|
|
9
|
Opposition
|
2011
|
652,194
|
11.7 (#3)
|
|
3
|
Coalition
[c]
|
2015
|
Portugal Ahead
|
|
6
|
Coalition
[d]
|
Opposition
|
2019
|
Assuncao Cristas
|
221,094
|
4.2 (#5)
|
|
13
|
Opposition
|
2022
|
Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos
|
89,181
|
1.6 (#7)
|
|
5
|
No seats
|
2024
|
Nuno Melo
|
Democratic Alliance
|
|
2
|
Coalition
[e]
|
European Parliament
[
edit
]
Regional Assemblies
[
edit
]
List of leaders
[
edit
]
Symbols
[
edit
]
Logos
[
edit
]
-
Party logo, 1974?1982
-
Party logo, 1982?1993
-
Party logo, 1993?2009
-
Current logo, since 2009
- ^
a
b
"Partidos registados e suas denominacoes, siglas e simbolos"
Tribunal Constitucional
.
(in Portuguese)
- ^
"CDS de Assuncao conquistou mais de 4000 novos militantes"
.
Diario de Noticias
. 10 March 2018
. Retrieved
10 March
2018
.
- ^
"Visao | Dina e o fraquinho por Manuel Monteiro"
. 23 March 2016.
- ^
Andre Freire (2006), "The Party System of Portugal", in Oskar Niedermayer; Richard Stoss; Melanie Hass (eds.),
Die Parteiensysteme Westeuropas
, VS Verlag, p. 373
- ^
Howard J. Wiarda; Margaret MacLeish Mott (2001),
Catholic Roots and Democratic Flowers: Political Systems in Spain and Portugal
, Greenwood, p. 138
- ^
a
b
Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019).
"Portugal"
.
Parties and Elections in Europe
. Retrieved
8 October
2019
.
- ^
Richard Gunther; Jose R. Montero (2001).
The Anchors of Partisanship: A Comparative Analysis of Voting Behavior in Four Southern European Democracies: Parties, Politics, and Democracy in the New Southern Europe
. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 108.
ISBN
978-0-8018-6518-3
.
- ^
Jose M. Magone (2011),
Contemporary European Politics: A comparative introduction
, Routledge, p. 117,
ISBN
9780203846391
- ^
Tom Lansford, ed. (2013).
Political Handbook of the World 2013
. SAGE Publications. p. 1170.
ISBN
978-1-4522-5825-6
.
- ^
"Portuguese socialists defend post-EU bailout austerity"
.
EUobserver
. 6 May 2019.
The centre-right CDS-PP and PSD parties put forward the €800m/year idea.
- ^
"
"CDS is a right-wing party, period"
"
.
Noticias ao Minuto
. 23 January 2020.
- ^
Billig, Michael; Marinho, Cristina (3 April 2014).
"MANIPULATING INFORMATION AND MANIPULATING PEOPLE: Examples from the 2004 Portuguese Parliamentary Celebration of the April Revolution"
.
Critical Discourse Studies
.
11
(2): 158?174.
doi
:
10.1080/17405904.2013.852982
.
ISSN
1740-5904
.
- ^
Masson, Elsevier.
"Metonymy, myth and politicians doing things with words: Examples from the Portuguese celebration of April 25"
.
EM-Consulte
(in French).
doi
:
10.1016/j.prps.2020.09.002
. Retrieved
29 May
2024
.
- ^
a
b
Portugal, Radio e Televisao de (31 January 2022).
"Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos demite-se da lideranca do CDS-PP"
.
Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos demite-se da lideranca do CDS-PP
(in Portuguese)
. Retrieved
2 February
2022
.
- ^
a
b
Rodrigues, Sofia (3 April 2022).
"Nuno Melo conquista 73% dos votos e lidera comissao politica nacional do CDS"
.
PUBLICO
(in Portuguese)
. Retrieved
3 April
2022
.
- ^
"Morreu fundador do CDS Paulo Lowndes Marques"
.
Correio de Manha
. Retrieved
26 January
2020
.
- ^
Johansson, Karl Magnus (2002), "European People's Party",
European Political Parties between Cooperation and Integration
, Nomos, p. 65
- ^
Wise, Peter (30 January 2022).
"Portugal's ruling Socialists on course to win snap election, exit polls show"
.
Financial Times
. Retrieved
2 February
2022
.
- ^
Bruneau (2007), p. 77
- ^
a
b
c
Magone (2003), p. 143
- ^
Costa Lobo, Marina; Magalhaes, Pedro C.
Room for Manoeuvre: Euroscepticism in the Portuguese Parties and Electorate, 1976?2005
.
- ^
Bruneau (2007), p. 91
- ^
Freire, Andre (August 2005). "Party System Change in Portugal, 1974?2005: The Role of Social, Political and Ideological Factors".
Portuguese Journal of Social Science
.
4
(2): 81?100.
doi
:
10.1386/pjss.4.2.81/1
.
- ^
David Art (2011),
"Memory Politics in Western Europe"
, in Uwe Backes; Patrick Moreau (eds.),
The Extreme Right in Europe
, Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, p. 364,
ISBN
978-3-525-36922-7
- ^
Leston-Bandeira (2004), p. 31
- ^
(in Portuguese)
"Prova dos Factos. O CDS teve uma deriva antieuropeista?"
.
Publico
.
- ^
Magone (2003), p. 110
- ^
Magone (2003), p. 144
- ^
Freire et al. (2007), p. 138
- ^
Freire et al. (2007), p. 134
- ^
Sanchez-Cuenca, Ignacio (May 2003).
"How can governments be accountable if voters vote ideologically?"
(PDF)
.
Working Paper
.
2003
(191). CEACS.
- ^
Freire et al. (2007), p. 117
- ^
Veiga, Francisco Jose; Goncalves Veiga, Linda (2004).
"The Determinants of Vote Intentions in Portugal"
(PDF)
.
Public Choice
.
118
(3?4): 341?364.
doi
:
10.1023/B:PUCH.0000019913.00616.e2
.
hdl
:
1822/1407
.
S2CID
189838190
.
Notes
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
|
---|
|
National parties
| Member parties (
EU
)
| |
---|
Associated parties (non-EU)
| |
---|
Observer parties
| |
---|
|
---|
Presidents
| |
---|
European Parliament
Group Presidents
| |
---|
European Commissioners
| |
---|
Heads of government
at the European Council
| |
---|
|