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1975 Portuguese Constituent Assembly election

Constituent Assembly elections were carried out in Portugal on 25 April 1975, exactly one year after the Carnation Revolution. The election elected all 250 members of the Portuguese Constituent Assembly.

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
 
Mário Soares 1975b (cropped).jpg
Francisco Sá Carneiro.jpg
Alvaro Cunhal 1980 (cropped).jpg
Leader Mário Soares Francisco Sá Carneiro Álvaro Cunhal
Party PS PPD PCP
Leader since 19 April 1973 6 May 1974 31 March 1961
Leader's seat Lisbon Porto 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 Sixth party
 
Freitas do Amaral, XV Cimeira Ibero-Americana - Salamanca, Espanha (cropped).jpg
Francisco Pereira de Moura - A Capital (22Out1969).png
Leader Diogo Freitas do Amaral Francisco Pereira de Moura João Pulido Valente
Party CDS MDP/CDE UDP
Leader since 19 July 1974 September 1969 9 March 1975
Leader's seat Lisbon Lisbon Lisbon
Seats won 16 5 1
Popular vote 434,879 236,318 44,877
Percentage 7.6% 4.1% 0.8%

It was the first free election held in Portugal since 1925, and only the seventh free election in all of Portuguese history. It was also the first under universal suffrage since 1894. Turnout was a record 91.66 percent, which remains (as of 2022) 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.

With few or no opinion polls during the campaign, the real trend of the electorate was unknown, but incumbent Prime Minister Vasco Gonçalves was confident in a victory of the most leftwing forces in Portugal, forecasting that the Portuguese Democratic Movement (MDP/CDE) would win the election, followed by the Communists (PCP) and then the Socialist Party (PS).[1] In the end, this forecast was totally wrong.

The election was won by the Socialist Party with almost 38 percent of the votes and 116 seats. The Social Democratic Party (then known as the Democratic People's Party, PPD) was the second-most voted party, 26.4 percent and 81 seats, defending a project that it would soon abandon, social democratic centrism, the Portuguese "Social-Democracy", and becoming the major right-wing party in the country a few years after. The size of the results of the PPD were a big surprise, taking into account that they won double the votes of the Communists.[1]

The new 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, just 12 percent, 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. The other big surprise were the very weak results of MDP/CDE, which polled just at 4 percent and elected 5 members to the Assembly.[1]

The results map showed a strong North-South division, with the more rightwing forces, PPD and CDS, dominating the North and Center regions, mainly in rural areas, and the PCP dominating the South, especially the Alentejo region. The PS dominated the big urban areas around Lisbon, Porto, Coimbra and Setúbal.[2]

Background

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Main article: Portuguese transition to democracy

The previous parliamentary elections were held on October 28, 1973, still under the authoritarian rule of the Estado Novo (New State), founded by António de Oliveira Salazar who died in 1970. The People's National Action (ANP), the single party of the then President of the Council of Ministers, Marcelo Caetano, had won the all 150 deputies of the National Assembly in the 1973 election, with a participation rate of 66.5% of registered. The election was boycotted by Opposition forces due to complaints about democratic legitimacy and oppression.

1974 revolution

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Main article: Carnation Revolution
 
Crowd celebrating the revolution in an armoured car.

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, took 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, returned 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, founded the Democratic People's Party (PPD) which claimed to be social democratic.[4]

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

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

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

Electoral system

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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.

For these elections, the MPs distributed by districts were the following:[7]

District Number of MPs Map
Lisbon 55
Porto 36
Setúbal 16
Braga 15
Aveiro 14
Santarém 13
Coimbra 12
Leiria 11
Viseu 10
Faro 9
Castelo Branco 7
Beja, Funchal, Guarda, Viana do Castelo and Vila Real 6
Évora 5
Bragança and Portalegre 4
Ponta Delgada 3
Angra do Heroísmo 2
Emigration, Horta, Macau and Mozambique 1

Parties

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The table below lists the major parties that contested the elections:

Name Ideology Political position Leader
PS Socialist Party
Partido Socialista 		Social democracy Centre-left Mário Soares
PPD Democratic People's Party
Partido Popular Democrático 		Liberalism Centre Francisco Sá Carneiro
PCP Portuguese Communist Party
Partido Comunista Português 		Communism Far-left Álvaro Cunhal
CDS Democratic and Social Center
Centro Democrático e Social 		Christian democracy Centre-right Diogo Freitas do Amaral
MDP/CDE Portuguese Democratic Movement
Movimento Democrático Português 		Left-wing nationalism
Democratic socialism 		Left-wing Francisco Pereira de Moura
UDP Popular Democratic Union
União Democrática Popular 		Marxism
Socialism 		Left-wing João Pulido Valente
ADIM Association for the Defense of Macau Interests
Associação para a Defesa dos Interesses de Macau 		Conservatism
Macau interests 		Right-wing Diamantino Ferreira

Campaign period

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Election posters on the facade of Rossio Station, Lisbon, on the eve of the elections.
 
Election posters in Lisbon, 1975.

Party slogans

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Party or alliance Original slogan English translation Refs
PS « A verdadeira escolha » "The real choice" [8]
PPD « Tu decides votando » "You decide by voting" [9]
PCP « Dá mais força à Liberdade » "Empower Freedom" [10]
CDS « O voto certo » "The right vote" [11]
MDP « O voto do povo » "The people's vote" [12]
UDP « Em frente com a UDP » "Moving forward with UDP" [13]

Candidates' debates

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On the election night broadcast on RTP1, a debate took place, moderated by Joaquim Letria, on the electoral results revealed so far, with the participation of the leaders of the four main parties at the time: Mário Soares (Socialist Party), Joaquim Magalhães Mota replacing Francisco Sá Carneiro (Social Democratic Party), Álvaro Cunhal (Portuguese Communist Party), and Francisco Pereira de Moura (MDP/CDE). The questions to the guests were asked by a panel of commentators made up of journalists Manuel Beça Múrias, Dinis Abreu, José Júdice, Castro Mendes and José Carlos Vasconcelos.

1975 Portuguese Constituent Assembly election
Date Organisers Moderator(s)     P  Present    S  Absent invitee  N  Non-invitee 
PS PPD PCP MDP/CDE Refs
26 Apr RTP1 Joaquim Letria Soares Mota[a] Cunhal Moura [14]

Opinion polling

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Date Released Polling Firm PS         Others Lead
25 Apr 1975 Election results 37.9 26.4 12.5 7.6 4.1 11.5 11.5
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

Results

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Summary of the 25 April 1975 Constituent Assembly elections
results
 
Party Votes % Seats
Socialist Party 2,162,972 37.87 116
Democratic People's Party 1,507,282 26.39 81
Portuguese Communist Party 711,935 12.46 30
Democratic and Social Centre 434,879 7.61 16
Portuguese Democratic Movement 236,318 4.14 5
People's Socialist Front 66,307 1.16 0
Movement of Socialist Left 58,248 1.02 0
People's Democratic Union 44,877 0.79 1
Communist Electoral Front (Marxist–Leninist) 33,185 0.58 0
People's Monarchist Party 32,526 0.57 0
Popular Unity Party 13,138 0.23 0
Internationalist Communist League 10,835 0.19 0
Association for the Defense of Macau Interests[b] 1,622 0.03 1
Democratic Centre of Macau[b] 1,030 0.02 0
Total 5,315,064 93.05 250
Valid votes 5,315,064 93.05
Invalid/blank votes 396,675 6.95
Total votes cast 5,711,829 100.00
Registered voters/turnout 6,231,372 91.66
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

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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 - 62.8 2 2.4 - 6.1 - 1.1 - 2
Aveiro 31.8 5 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 37.7 7 3.7 - 18.0 3 2.9 - - - 15
Bragança 24.7 1 43.0 3 2.7 - 13.5 - 3.7 - - - 4
Castelo Branco 41.5 5 24.3 2 5.6 - 6.4 - 3.9 - 0.8 - 7
Coimbra 43.2 7 27.2 4 5.7 1 4.6 - 4.4 - 12
Évora 37.9 3 6.9 - 37.1 2 2.8 - 7.8 - 0.9 - 5
Faro 45.4 6 13.9 1 12.3 1 3.4 - 9.5 1 1.1 - 9
Funchal 19.6 1 61.9 5 1.7 - 10.0 - 1.3 - 6
Guarda 28.2 2 33.3 3 2.9 - 19.5 1 3.6 - 6
Horta 23.0 - 67.6 1 2.4 - 3.1 - 1
Leiria 33.2 5 35.6 5 6.4 - 6.8 1 3.4 - 1.1 - 11
Lisbon 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 41.1 1 1
Ponta Delgada 30.4 1 54.8 2 1.5 - 3.1 - 2.7 - 3
Portalegre 52.4 3 9.9 - 17.5 1 4.0 - 4.5 - 1.2 - 4
Porto 42.6 18 29.4 12 6.7 2 8.9 3 2.6 1 0.6 - 36
Santarém 42.9 8 18.8 3 15.1 2 4.3 - 4.1 - 1.0 - 13
Setúbal 38.2 7 5.7 1 37.8 7 1.6 - 6.0 1 1.3 - 16
Viana do Castelo 24.5 2 36.0 3 3.8 - 14.5 1 7.1 - 6
Vila Real 27.1 2 45.8 4 2.9 - 7.2 - 2.3 - 6
Viseu 21.5 2 43.9 6 2.3 - 17.2 2 4.0 - 10
Emigration 34.4 - 45.6 1 4.6 - 11.0 - 1
Total 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

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Notes

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  1. ^ Independent Joaquim Magalhães Mota replaced Francisco Sá Carneiro.
  2. ^ a b Independent Democratic Association of Macau and Democratic Centre of Macau electoral list only in Macau.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Todos queriam votar nas eleições de 1975". Correio da Manhã. 29 September 2019. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  2. ^ "A primeira campanha eleitoral em democracia". RTP. 2015. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  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. ^ "Mapa com o número de deputados da Eleição para a Assembleia Constituinte de 25 de Abril de 1975". CNE - Comissão Nacional de Eleições - Mapa com o número de deputados da Eleição para a Assembleia Constituinte de 25 de Abril de 1975. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  8. ^ "PS – 1975". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  9. ^ "ELEIÇÕES LEGISLATIVAS DE 1983 – PSD". EPHEMERA (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. ^ "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.
  12. ^ "MDP – CDE – 1975". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  13. ^ "UDP – 1975". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  14. ^ "Análise das eleições para a Assembleia Constituinte". RTP Arquivos (in Portuguese). 26 April 1975. Retrieved 5 February 2022.
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See also

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