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1975 Portuguese Constituent Assembly election

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1975 Portuguese Constituent Assembly election

← 1973 25 April 1975 1976 →

250 seats to the Portuguese Constituent Assembly
125 seats needed for a majority
Registered6,231,372
Turnout5,711,829 (91.7%)
  First party Second party Third party
 
Leader Mário Soares Francisco Sá Carneiro Álvaro Cunhal
Party PS PPD PCP
Leader since 19 April 1973 6 May 1974 1961
Leader's seat Lisbon[1] Porto[2] Lisbon
Seats won 116 81 30
Popular vote 2,162,972 1,507,282 711,935
Percentage 37.9% 26.4% 12.5%

  Fourth party Fifth party
 
Leader Diogo Freitas do Amaral José Manuel Tengarrinha
Party CDS MDP/CDE
Leader since 19 July 1974 1969
Leader's seat Lisbon Lisbon
Seats won 16 5
Popular vote 434,879 236,318
Percentage 7.6% 4.1%

The Portuguese Constituent Assembly election, 1975 was carried out in Portugal on 25 April 1975, exactly one year after the Carnation Revolution. It was the first free election held in Portugal since 1925, and only the seventh free election in all of Portuguese history. Turnout was a record 91.66 percent, which remains (as of 2020) the highest ever in any Portuguese democratic elections (General, Regional, Local or European).

The main aim of the election was the election of a Constituent Assembly, in order to write a new constitution to replace the Estado Novo regime's authoritarian Constitution of 1933 and so this freely-elected parliament had a single-year mandate and no government was based on parliamentary support; the country continued to be governed by a military-civilian provisional administration during the deliberations of the Constituent Assembly.

The election was won by the Socialist Party. The Social Democratic Party (then known as the Democratic People's Party, PPD) was the second-most voted party, defending a project that it would soon abandon, social democratic centrism, the Portuguese "Social-Democracy" becoming the major right-wing party in the country a few years after. The parliament had a large majority of parties defending socialist or "democratic socialist" ideas and the Constitution, approved one year after, reflected such influence. The Portuguese Communist Party achieved a surprisingly low total, considering the overwhelming support in the south of the country and the radical turn to the left of the revolutionary process after the failed fascist coup, one month before.

With the PPD's shift away from the left and towards the right coming after this election, the only right-of-centre party elected was the CDS, which received 7.6 percent of the vote and 16 seats.

Background

Election posters on the facade of Rossio Station, Lisbon, on the eve of the elections.

The previous parliamentary elections were held on October 28, 1973, still under the authoritarian rule of the Estado Novo (New State). The People's National Action (ANP), the single party of the president of the council Marcelo Caetano had won the all 150 deputies of the National Assembly, with a participation rate of 66.5% of registered.

On April 25, 1974, the Carnation Revolution, initiated by the captains of the Armed Forces Movement (MFA), ended the authoritarian regime established in 1932 by António de Oliveira Salazar. After the revolutionary forces proclaimed victory, the National Salvation Junta, presided by General António de Spínola, takes over the position of Head of State and Government.[3]

With political parties once again legal, the Socialist Party (PS) leader, Mário Soares, and the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) Secretary General, Álvaro Cunhal, return to Portugal less than a week later. In addition, the members of the "liberal wing" of the ANP, favorable to a democratization of the "Estado Novo" before its fall, found the Democratic People's Party (PPD) which claimed to be social democratic.[4]

At the end of three weeks, Spínola takes the oath as President of the Republic, and nominates Adelino da Palma Carlos Prime Minister as the head of the 1st provisional government where civil and military members plus independent, socialists, social democrats and communists were also part of.

As early as July 18, Vasco Gonçalves, a military man seen as very close to the Communist Party, replaces Palma Carlos as head of the government. After this, the first party that doesn't claim to be from the left or the center-left appears, the Democratic and Social Center (CDS), which says to be an advocate to Christian democracy and liberalism.

Barely two and a half months later, after failing to carry out a counter-revolution, Spínola resigns as President of the Republic and is replaced by General Francisco da Costa Gomes, his deputy in the National Salvation Junta. On March 19, 1975, President Costa Gomes officially calls an election to elect members to write a new Constitution.[5]

Electoral system

The electoral system adopted, set by the electoral law approved on November 15, 1974,[6] establishes the election of members of parliament by proportional representation according to the D'Hondt method, known to benefit the parties that come first.

The law fixes the number of one deputy per 25,000 inhabitants and one more per fraction of 12,500. Deputies were elected in twenty-three constituencies, namely the eighteen metropolitan districts, Horta, Ponta Delgada, Angra do Heroísmo, Funchal, Mozambique, Macau, and the rest of the world.

In application of these provisions, 250 seats were to be filled.

Parties

The major parties involved and the respective leaders:

Campaign period

Party slogans

Party or alliance Original slogan English translation Refs
width="1" bgcolor="Template:Socialist Party (Portugal)/meta/color"| PS « A verdadeira escolha » "The real choice" [7]
bgcolor="Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color"| PPD « Tu decides votando » "You decide by voting" [8]
bgcolor="Template:Portuguese Communist Party/meta/color"| PCP « Dá mais força à Liberdade » "Empower Freedom" [9]
bgcolor="Template:CDS – People's Party/meta/color"| CDS « O voto certo » "The right vote" [10]
MDP « O voto do povo » "The people's vote" [11]
UDP « Em frente com a UDP » "Moving forward with UDP" [12]

Opinion polling

Date Released Polling Firm PS PPD PCP CDS MDP Others Lead
Mar 1975 IPOPE 47.0 21.0 17.0 2.0 4.0 9.0 26.0
Dec 1974 CUF 35.1 27.0 10.8 2.7 24.4 8.1

National summary of votes and seats

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FF66FF;" data-sort-value="Socialist Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FF9900;" data-sort-value="Social Democratic Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FF0000;" data-sort-value="Portuguese Communist Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #0093DD;" data-sort-value="Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: darkred;" data-sort-value="Portuguese Democratic Movement" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: red;" data-sort-value="People's Socialist Front" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: red;" data-sort-value="Movement of Socialist Left" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: red;" data-sort-value="Communist Electoral Front (Marxist–Leninist)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #2A5392;" data-sort-value="People's Monarchist Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: red;" data-sort-value="Popular Unity Party (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: red;" data-sort-value="Internationalist Communist League (Portugal)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: green;" data-sort-value="Independent Democratic Association of Macau" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: lightblue;" data-sort-value="Democratic Centre of Macau" |
e • d Summary of the 25 April 1975 Constituent Assembly elections results
Parties Votes % MPs MPs %/
votes %
1975 %
Socialist 2,162,972 37.87 116 46.40 1.23
Democratic People's 1,507,282 26.39 81 32.40 1.23
Communist 711,935 12.46 30 12.00 0.96
Democratic and Social Centre 434,879 7.61 16 6.40 0.84
Portuguese Democratic Movement 236,318 4.14 5 2.00 0.48
People's Socialist Front 66,307 1.16 0 0.00 0.0
Movement of Socialist Left 58,248 1.02 0 0.00 0.0
People's Democratic Union 44,877 0.79 1 0.40 0.51
Communist Electoral Front (Marxist–Leninist) 33,185 0.58 0 0.00 0.0
People's Monarchist 32,526 0.57 0 0.00 0.0
Popular Unity 13,138 0.23 0 0.00 0.0
Internationalist Communist League 10,835 0.19 0 0.00 0.0
Independent Democratic Association of Macau[A] 1,622 0.03 1 0.40 13.33
Democratic Centre of Macau[A] 1,030 0.02 0 0.00 0.0
Total valid 5,315,064 93.05 250 100.00
Invalid ballots 396,675 6.95
Total (turnout 91.66%) 5,711,829 100.00
A Independent Democratic Association of Macau and Democratic Centre of Macau electoral list only in Macau.
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições
Vote share
PS
37.87%
PPD
26.39%
PCP
12.46%
CDS
7.61%
MDP/CDE
4.14%
FSP
1.16%
MES
1.02%
UDP
0.79%
FEC(m-l)
0.58%
PPM
0.57%
ADIM
0.03%
Others
0.43%
Blank/Invalid
6.95%
Parliamentary seats
PS
46.40%
PPD
32.40%
PCP
12.00%
CDS
6.40%
MDP/CDE
2.00%
UDP
0.40%
ADIM
0.40%

Distribution by constituency

e • d Results of the 1975 election of the Portuguese Constituent Assembly by constituency
Constituency % S % S % S % S % S % S % S Total
S
PS PPD PCP CDS MDP/CDE UDP ADIM
Angra do Heroísmo 23.0 - style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|62.8 2 2.4 - 6.1 - 1.1 - 2
Aveiro 31.8 5 style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|42.9 7 3.2 - 11.1 2 3.9 - 14
Beja 35.6 3 5.3 - 39.0 3 2.2 - 5.5 - 1.4 - 6
Braga 27.4 5 style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|37.7 7 3.7 - 18.0 3 2.9 - - - 15
Bragança 24.7 1 style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|43.0 3 2.7 - 13.5 - 3.7 - - - 4
Castelo Branco style="background:Template:Socialist Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|41.5 5 24.3 2 5.6 - 6.4 - 3.9 - 0.8 - 7
Coimbra style="background:Template:Socialist Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|43.2 7 27.2 4 5.7 1 4.6 - 4.4 - 12
EvoraÉvora style="background:Template:Socialist Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|37.9 3 6.9 - 37.1 2 2.8 - 7.8 - 0.9 - 5
Faro style="background:Template:Socialist Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|45.4 6 13.9 1 12.3 1 3.4 - 9.5 1 1.1 - 9
Funchal 19.6 1 style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|61.9 5 1.7 - 10.0 - 1.3 - 6
Guarda 28.2 2 style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|33.3 3 2.9 - 19.5 1 3.6 - 6
Horta 23.0 - style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|67.6 1 2.4 - 3.1 - 1
Leiria 33.2 5 style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|35.6 5 6.4 - 6.8 1 3.4 - 1.1 - 11
Lisbon style="background:Template:Socialist Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|46.0 29 15.0 9 18.9 11 4.8 3 4.1 2 1.7 1 55
Macau 56.4 1 1
Mozambique style="background:Template:Socialist Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|41.1 1 1
Ponta Delgada 30.4 1 style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|54.8 2 1.5 - 3.1 - 2.7 - 3
Portalegre style="background:Template:Socialist Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|52.4 3 9.9 - 17.5 1 4.0 - 4.5 - 1.2 - 4
Porto style="background:Template:Socialist Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|42.6 18 29.4 12 6.7 2 8.9 3 2.6 1 0.6 - 36
Santarém style="background:Template:Socialist Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|42.9 8 18.8 3 15.1 2 4.3 - 4.1 - 1.0 - 13
Setúbal style="background:Template:Socialist Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|38.2 7 5.7 1 37.8 7 1.6 - 6.0 1 1.3 - 16
Viana do Castelo 24.5 2 style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|36.0 3 3.8 - 14.5 1 7.1 - 6
Vila Real 27.1 2 style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|45.8 4 2.9 - 7.2 - 2.3 - 6
Viseu 21.5 2 style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|43.9 6 2.3 - 17.2 2 4.0 - 10
zEmigration 34.4 - style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|45.6 1 4.6 - 11.0 - 1
Total style="background:Template:Socialist Party (Portugal)/meta/color; color:white;"|37.9 116 26.4 81 12.5 30 7.6 16 4.1 5 0.8 1 0.0 1 250
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Maps

References

  1. ^ "Assembleia Constituinte - Deputados por círculo eleitoral". Archived from the original on 2012-04-25. Retrieved 2011-10-24.
  2. ^ Assembleia Constituinte - Lista de deputados substituídos Archived 2007-06-10 at the Wayback Machine
  3. ^ 25 de Abril de 1974, RTP, retrieved 25 February 2018.
  4. ^ As primeiras eleições livres, Correio da Manhã, retrieved 25 February 2018.
  5. ^ Official call of 1975 Constituent Assembly election
  6. ^ Electoral Law of 1974
  7. ^ "PS – 1975". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  8. ^ "ELEIÇÕES LEGISLATIVAS DE 1983 – PSD". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Comunicação Política em eleições legislativas em Portugal: uma análise a partir dos cartazes eleitorais (1975-2009)" (PDF). Francisco Teixeira (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  10. ^ "Comunicação Política em eleições legislativas em Portugal: uma análise a partir dos cartazes eleitorais (1975-2009)" (PDF). Francisco Teixeira (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  11. ^ "MDP – CDE – 1975". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  12. ^ "UDP – 1975". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.

See also