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1991 Portuguese legislative election

Election

Election

FieldValue
election_name1991 Portuguese legislative election
countryPortugal
typeparliamentary
ongoingno
previous_election1987 Portuguese legislative election
previous_year1987
next_election1995 Portuguese legislative election
next_year1995
seats_for_electionAll 230 seats in the Assembly of the Republic
majority_seats116
registered8,462,357 6.7%
turnout5,735,431 (67.8%)
3.8 pp
election_date6 October 1991
image1
leader1Aníbal Cavaco Silva
party1Social Democratic Party (Portugal)
leader_since12 June 1985
leaders_seat1Lisbon
last_election1148 seats, 50.2%
seats_before1138†
seats1135
seat_change13*
popular_vote12,902,351
percentage150.6%
swing10.4 pp
image2
leader2Jorge Sampaio
party2Socialist Party (Portugal)
leader_since215 January 1989
leaders_seat2Lisbon
last_election260 seats, 22.2%
seats_before256†
seats272
seat_change216*
popular_vote21,670,758
percentage229.1%
swing26.9 pp
image3
colour3FF0000
leader3Álvaro Cunhal
party3PCP
alliance3CDU
color3DA251E
leader_since330 September 1987
leaders_seat3Lisbon
last_election331 seats, 12.1%
seats_before326†
seats317
seat_change39*
popular_vote3504,583
percentage38.8%
swing33.3 pp
image4
leader4Diogo Freitas do Amaral
party4CDS
colour40093DD
leader_since431 January 1988
leaders_seat4Lisbon
last_election44 seats, 4.4%
seats_before44†
seats45
seat_change41*
popular_vote4254,317
percentage44.4%
swing40.0 pp
image5[[File:Símbolo do Partido da Solidariedade Nacional.png95px]]
leader5Manuel Sérgio
party5PSN
colour5000080
leader_since526 June 1990
leaders_seat5Lisbon
last_election5Did not contest
seats_before5—
seats51
seat_change51
popular_vote596,096
percentage51.7%
swing5New party
<!-- Map -->titlePrime Minister
posttitlePrime Minister after election
before_electionAníbal Cavaco Silva
before_partySocial Democratic Party (Portugal)
after_electionAníbal Cavaco Silva
after_partySocial Democratic Party (Portugal)
map{{Switcher
outgoing_membersoutgoing members
elected_memberselected members

3.8 pp

| [[File:1991 Portuguese legislative election - Results.svg|230px]] | Vote winner strength by district. | [[File:1991 Portuguese legislative election district results.svg|272px]] | Results by constituency.

  • Indicates seat change, so this is a nominal figure. † Notional 1987 results with the new seat distribution.

The 1991 Portuguese legislative election took place on 6 October. The election renewed all 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic. There was a reduction of 20 seats compared with previous elections, due to the 1989 Constitutional revision. For the first time in Portuguese democracy, an election was held after the four years of the legislature had been fully completed.

The Social Democratic Party, under the lead of Cavaco Silva, won a historic third term and won an absolute majority for the second consecutive election. While it lost 13 MPs due to the reduction of the overall number from the original 250 to 230, although just a 3 seat loss if the 1987 election results are tabulated with the new seat distribution, it gained a higher share of the vote than in 1987. Cavaco Silva became the first Prime Minister since Hintze Ribeiro, in 1904, to lead a party into three successive democratic election victories.

The Socialist Party, at the time led by Jorge Sampaio, the future President of Portugal, increased its share by 7 percentage points and gained 12 MPs, a gain of 16 if compared with 1987 with the new seat distribution, but did not manage to avoid the absolute majority of the Social Democrats. Like four and six years earlier, and like 1979 and 1980, the PS failed to win a single district. In the first legislative election after the fall of the Eastern Bloc, the communist dominated Democratic Unity Coalition lost much of its electoral influence, losing almost 10 MPs and 4 points of the votes, but were able to hold on to the district of Beja by a slight margin over the PSD.

On the right, the CDS could not recover its past influence, mainly to the effect of tactical voting for the Social Democratic Party by right-wing voters, increasing its parliamentary group by only 1 MP. The National Solidarity Party, using a populist campaign, achieved for the first time an MP, in what would be the only presence of such party in the Parliament.

Voter turnout fell to 67.8 percent, and for the first time below 70 percent of the electorate.

Background

Leadership changes and challenges

CDS 1988 leadership election

After CDS's poor results, just 4 percent, in the 1987 general elections, then CDS leader Adriano Moreira announced he would leave the leadership and called a party congress to elect a new leader. Diogo Freitas do Amaral, former party leader and defeated candidate in the 1986 presidential election, returned to the party and was the sole candidate to the party's leadership. |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px"|Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|%

-
- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"
-
}

PS 1989 leadership election

In the 1987 general election the PS polled 2nd with just 22 percent, while the PSD won a historic absolute majority. Then party leader, Vítor Constâncio was facing pressures because of his strategy, with interferences also from President Mário Soares, and, adding to this, his difficulty in finding a strong candidate for Lisbon to contest the 1989 local elections. Because of these pressures, Constâncio resign in late 1988 and a party congress to elect a new leader was called for mid January 1989. Two candidates were on the ballot, Jorge Sampaio and Jaime Gama. Sampaio was easily elected as PS leader. |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px"|Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|%

-
-
- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"
-
}

PRD 1991 leadership election

The Democratic Renewal Party's results in the 1987 election were disappointing and António Ramalho Eanes resigned from the leadership. Hermínio Martinho returned to the leadership, but the party was plagued by deep divisions on its ideology and strategy, with key members, including Ramalho Eanes, announcing their departure from the party. In June 1991, the party held a leadership ballot between Hermínio Martinho and Pedro Canavarro. Martinho defended the dissolution of the party, while Canavarro proposed the continuation of the party. The ballot results gave Canavarro a landslide victory. The results were the following: |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" ! align="center" colspan=2 style="width: 60px"|Candidate ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|%

-
-
- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"
-
}

Electoral system

The Assembly of the Republic has 230 members elected to four-year terms. The total number of MPs was reduced in 1989, during the Constitutional amendments, to 230 from the previous 250. 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 116 (absolute majority) for both the Government's Programme to be rejected or for a motion of no confidence to be approved.

The number of seats assigned to each district depends on the district magnitude. 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.

For these elections, and compared with the 1987 elections, the MPs distributed by districts were the following:

DistrictNumber of MPsMap
Lisbon50
Porto37
Braga and Setúbal16
Aveiro14
Leiria, Santarém and Coimbra10
Viseu9
Faro8
Vila Real and Viana do Castelo6
Azores, Castelo Branco, Madeira5
Beja, Bragança, Évora and Guarda4
Portalegre3
Europe and Outside Europe2

Parties

The table below lists the parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic during the 5th legislature (1987–1991) and that also partook in the election:

With the 1987 seat distribution

NameIdeologyPolitical positionLeader1987 resultSeats at
dissolution%Seats
Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}};"PPD/PSDSocial Democratic Party
Partido Social DemocrataLiberal conservatism
Classical liberalismCentre-rightAníbal
Cavaco Silva50.2%
Socialist Party (Portugal)}};"PSSocialist Party
Partido SocialistaSocial democracyCentre-leftJorge Sampaio22.2%
PCPPortuguese Communist Party
Partido Comunista PortuguêsCommunism
Marxism–LeninismFar-leftÁlvaro Cunhal
12.1%
Ecologist Party "The Greens"}};"PEVEcologist Party "The Greens"
Partido Ecologista "Os Verdes"Eco-socialism
Green politicsLeft-wing-
Democratic Renewal Party (Portugal)}};"PRDDemocratic Renewal Party
Partido Renovador DemocráticoCentrism
Third WayCentrePedro
Canavarro4.9%
CDS – People's Party}};"CDSDemocratic and Social Centre
Centro Democrático e SocialChristian democracy
ConservatismCentre-right
to right-wingDiogo Freitas
do Amaral4.4%
Independent}};"Ind.Independent
IndependenteEcologist Party "The Greens" caucus dissolved in December 1990;

Seat changes

  • On December 1990, the 7 MPs of the Democratic Renewal Party left the party and decided to join the Socialist Party caucus, after a split with the party's leader, Pedro Canavarro.

  • Also on December 1990, the two MPs from the Ecologist Party "The Greens" decided to dissolve their caucus and sit as Independents, following disagreements with the Portuguese Communist Party and defending an ecological party not aligned with the Communists.

1987 results with the new seat distribution

NameIdeologyPolitical positionLeader1987 notional result%Seats
Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}};"PPD/PSDSocial Democratic Party
Partido Social DemocrataLiberal conservatism
Classical liberalismCentre-rightAníbal
Cavaco Silva50.2%
Socialist Party (Portugal)}};"PSSocialist Party
Partido SocialistaSocial democracyCentre-leftJorge Sampaio22.2%
PCPPortuguese Communist Party
Partido Comunista PortuguêsCommunism
Marxism–LeninismFar-leftÁlvaro Cunhal12.1%
Ecologist Party "The Greens"}};"PEVEcologist Party "The Greens"
Partido Ecologista "Os Verdes"Eco-socialism
Green politicsLeft-wing-
Democratic Renewal Party (Portugal)}};"PRDDemocratic Renewal Party
Partido Renovador DemocráticoCentrism
Third WayCentrePedro
Canavarro4.9%
CDS – People's Party}};"CDSDemocratic and Social Centre
Centro Democrático e SocialChristian democracy
ConservatismCentre-right
to right-wingDiogo Freitas
do Amaral4.4%

Campaign period

Party slogans

Party or allianceOriginal sloganEnglish translationRefs
Social Democratic Party (Portugal)}}"PSD« No bom caminho »"On the right track"
Socialist Party (Portugal)}}"PS« Agora nós »"Now us."
Unitary Democratic Coalition}}"CDU« Para um Portugal melhor »"For a better Portugal"
CDS – People's Party}}"CDS« A verdade, sempre! »"The truth, always!"
PSN« O sol está a nascer para todos. »"The sun is rising for everyone."

Candidates' debates

No debates between the main parties were held as the PSD leader and Prime Minister, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, refused to take part in any debate.

Opinion polling

The following table shows the opinion polls of voting intention of the Portuguese voters before the election. Included is also the result of the Portuguese general elections in 1987 and 1991 for reference.

Note, until 2000, the publication of opinion polls in the last week of the campaign was forbidden.

Polling firm/LinkDate Released[[File:PSD (1987-1996).png38pxlink=Social Democratic Party (Portugal)PSD]]PS[[File:Logo of the Unitary Democratic Coalition.svg31pxlink=Unitary Democratic CoalitionCDU]][[File:CDS-PP (1982-1994).png25pxlink=CDS – People's PartyCDS]][[File:Símbolo do Partido da Solidariedade Nacional.png30pxlink=National Solidarity Party (Portugal)PSN]]OLeadSocial Democratic Party (Portugal)}};"Socialist Party (Portugal)}};"Democratic Unity Coalition}};"CDS – People's Party}};"
1991 legislative election6 Oct 199150.6
29.1
8.8
4.4
1.7
5.4
21.5
UCP6 Oct 199148.0–51.9
28.5–31.5
7.5–10.0
4.5–5.5
?
{{HiddenPSR ?
headerstyle=font-weight:normal;line-height:2px;}}19.5
20.4
Euroexpansão6 Oct 199145.8–50.229.8–33.96.8–9.13.7–5.51.0–2.0{{HiddenPSR 1.4–2.6headerstyle=font-weight:normal;line-height:2px;}}16.0
16.3
Euroteste6 Oct 199147–5031–347.5–104–5–{{HiddenPSR 1.0–1.5headerstyle=font-weight:normal;line-height:2px;}}16
GEOIDEIA6 Oct 199149–5229–317–93–42–3{{HiddenPSR 1.0–2.0headerstyle=font-weight:normal;line-height:2px;}}20
21
Rádio Press6 Oct 199145.535.09.64.5–—10.5
Rádio Correio da Manhã6 Oct 199145.8–50.229.8–33.96.8–9.13.7–5.51.0–2.0{{HiddenPSR 1.4–2.6headerstyle=font-weight:normal;line-height:2px;}}16.0
16.3
UCP29 Sep 199151.3
29.3
7.5
5.0
7.0
22.0
Euroteste28 Sep 199147.335.58.54.14.611.8
Euroteste28 Sep 199146.037.09.73.93.49.0
Euroexpansão28 Sep 1991443396811
Marktest27 Sep 199143.132.87.74.611.810.3
Pluriteste27 Sep 199141.234.78.48.17.66.5
Euroteste20 Sep 199145.635.510.04.44.510.1
Marktest20 Sep 199141.931.97.34.414.510.0
Pluriteste16 Sep 199139.226.66.26.022.012.6
Euroteste16 Sep 199145.134.510.25.25.010.6
Norma14 Sep 199145.037.511.23.52.87.5
Euroexpansão14 Sep 199144.740.015.34.7
Euroexpansão/Marktest28 Aug 199135.336.88.74.914.31.5
DN/Renascença13 Aug 199146.538.315.28.2
DN/Renascença6 Aug 199144.841.613.63.2
Euroteste/JN4 Aug 199147.537.812.38.27.7
PSD19 Jul 199154?????
PCP19 Jul 199152?????
Norma19 Jul 199143.732.912.46.54.510.8
Euroteste19 Jul 199145.436.610.84.03.28.8
Euroteste13 Jan 199147.536.99.33.52.710.6
1989 local elections17 Dec 198935.436.813.39.25.41.4
Norma29 Oct 198941.331.414.43.49.59.9
1989 EP elections18 Jun 198932.828.514.414.210.14.3
Euroexpansão18 Jun 198838.5?????
1987 legislative election19 Jul 198750.2
22.2
12.1
4.4
11.1
28.0

Results

National summary

Distribution by constituency

|- class="unsortable" !rowspan=2|Constituency!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S!!%!!S !rowspan=2|Total S |- class="unsortable" style="text-align:center;" !colspan=2 | PSD !colspan=2 | PS !colspan=2 | CDU !colspan=2 | CDS !colspan=2 | PSN |- | 4 | 25.8 | 1

1.3
3.4
-
5
-
9
27.8
4
2.8
-
6.1
1
1.3
-
14
-
29.3
1
28.4
1
2
2.3
-
1.0
-
4
-
10
31.5
5
4.6
-
5.6
1
0.8
-
16
-
3
25.7
1
2.1
-
8.2
-
1.5
-
4
-
3
32.4
2
4.6
-
3.9
-
2.3
-
5
-
6
34.4
4
5.0
-
3.5
-
1.7
-
10
-
2
25.9
1
27.1
1
2.8
-
1.4
-
4
-
5
31.2
3
7.2
-
2.8
-
2.2
-
8
-
3
26.8
1
2.3
-
5.9
-
1.3
-
4
-
7
23.0
3
4.5
-
4.8
-
1.4
-
10
-
25
29.7
16
12.2
6
4.0
2
2.6
1
50
-
4
20.2
1
1.0
-
6.1
-
1.9
-
5
-
2
33.5
1
15.2
-
3.3
-
1.8
-
3
-
21
32.9
13
6.4
2
4.1
1
1.1
-
37
-
6
29.4
3
9.8
1
3.3
-
2.2
-
10
-
6
28.4
5
24.9
5
2.7
-
2.4
-
16
-
4
25.2
2
5.0
-
7.2
-
1.2
-
6
-
4
26.0
2
2.6
-
5.1
-
1.2
-
6
-
7
19.4
2
2.1
-
6.3
-
1.3
-
9
-
1
31.9
1
7.8
-
3.0
-
2
-
2
4.9
-
1.0
-
14.6
-
2
-
- class="unsortable" style="background:#E9E9E9"
135
29.1
72
8.8
17
4.4
5
1.7
1
230
-
}

Maps

File:1991 Portuguese legislative election district results.svg|Winner and seats by constituency. File:Legislativas portuguesas de 1991 (Mapa).png|Most voted political force by municipality.

Notes

| The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Ecologist Party "The Greens" (PEV) contested the 1987 election in a coalition called Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU) and won a combined 12.1% of the vote and elected 31 MPs to parliament.

| Results presented here exclude undecideds (7.2%). With their inclusion results are: PSD: 47.6%; PS: 27.2%; CDU: 6.9%; CDS: 4.6%; Others/Invalid: 6.5%.

| Results presented here exclude undecideds (15.0%). With their inclusion results are: PSD: 40.4%; PS: 31.4%; CDU: 7.9%; CDS: 3.0%; Others/Invalid: 2.3%.

| PRD: 3.3%; Others/Invalid: 6.2%.

| Portuguese Communist Party (15 MPs) and "The Greens" (2 MPs) ran in coalition.

| People's Democratic Union electoral list only in Madeira and Azores.

References

References

  1. [https://books.google.com/books?id=WGp3DwAAQBAJ&dq=Redu%C3%A7%C3%A3o+de+250+para+230+deputados&pg=PT121 Sistema Eleitoral Português: Problemas e Soluções], "Leya", Marina Costa Lobo, 7 November 2018
  2. [https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/politica/a-decada-de-betao-do-cavaquismo_es901116 "A "década de betão" do cavaquismo"], ''RTP'', 7 March 2016. Retrieved 15 January 2025.
  3. [https://arquivos.rtp.pt/conteudos/entrevista-a-adriano-moreira-4/ "Entrevista a Adriano Moreira"], ''RTP'', 30 January 1988. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  4. [https://www.dn.pt/edicao-do-dia/04-out-2019/freitas-do-amaral-vivi-e-agi-a-minha-maneira-11333863.html "Diogo Freitas do Amaral. "Vivi e agi à minha maneira""], ''Diário de Notícias'', 4 October 2019. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  5. [https://www.jn.pt/nacional/perdeu-ps-para-guterres-e-beleza-ficou-com-votos-do-lider-no-congresso-14107076.html "Perdeu PS para Guterres e Beleza ficou com votos do líder no congresso"], ''JN'', 10 September 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  6. [https://arquivos.rtp.pt/conteudos/8-o-congresso-do-ps/ "8.º Congresso do PS"], ''RTP'', 14 January 1989. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  7. [https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/politica/jorge-sampaio-a-historia-de-duas-derrotas-que-fizeram-o-candidato-a-belem_es1061153 "Jorge Sampaio. A história de duas derrotas que fizeram o candidato a Belém "], ''RTP'', 10 September 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  8. [https://www.museu.presidencia.pt/pt/conhecer/presidentes-da-republica-biografias/presidentes-da-democracia/antonio-ramalho-eanes/ "António Ramalho Eanes"], ''Museu da Presidência da República'', 10 September 2021. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  9. [https://arquivos.rtp.pt/conteudos/4a-convencao-nacional-do-prd/ "4ª Convenção Nacional do PRD"], ''RTP'', 15 June 1990. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  10. [https://arquivos.rtp.pt/conteudos/legislativas-91-parte-iv/ "Legislativas 91 – Parte IV" Minute 36:57], ''RTP'', 6 October 1991. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  11. "Constitution of the Portuguese Republic".
  12. "Effective threshold in electoral systems". Trinity College, Dublin.
  13. Gallaher, Michael (1992). "[https://www.tcd.ie/Political_Science/staff/michael_gallagher/BJPS1992.pdf Comparing Proportional Representation Electoral Systems: Quotas, Thresholds, Paradoxes and Majorities]"
  14. "Eleição da Assembleia da República de 6 de Outubro de 1991". CNE - Comissão Nacional de Eleições - Eleição da Assembleia da República de 6 de Outubro de 1991.
  15. [https://www.parlamento.pt/DeputadoGP/Paginas/GruposParlamentaresI.aspx Composição dos Grupos Parlamentares/Partidos]
  16. "As legislaturas da Assembleia da República".
  17. (6 December 1990). "Dissolução do Grupo Parlamentar Os Verdes".
  18. "ELEIÇÕES LEGISLATIVAS DE 1991 – PSD". EPHEMERA.
  19. "Campanha eleitoral do PS". RTP.
  20. "Campanha eleitoral da CDU". RTP.
  21. "ELEIÇÕES LEGISLATIVAS DE 1991 – CDS". EPHEMERA.
  22. "Legislativas 91 – Parte VI". RTP.
  23. (4 September 2009). "O que mudam os debates na TV". Correio da Manhã.
  24. (22 September 2025). ""Aqui várias capas de jornais e revistas, relacionado com o escândalo sexual envolvendo Tomás Taveira."". aindasoudotempo Instagram account.
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