Nearly 50 years after April 25, Portugal currently has 23 parties officially registered with the Constitutional Court (TC). Of this, only eight have seats in parliament (PS, PSD, Chega, IL, PCP, BE, PAN and Livre). All others failed to elect a deputy to the Assembly of the Republic during the last legislative term, including the CDS-PP – which lost parliamentary representation for the first time.
In the opposite direction, on the right, Chega and the Liberal Initiative grew and began to have parliamentary groups (previously they had only one deputy). But is there room for this to happen again with other parties?
Looking at all parliamentary elections since 1976, the data is clear: Parties with less expression have difficulty asserting themselves in Portuguese politics. The exception – which exists to this day – seems to be the Bloco de Esquerda (BE). Since the first time it elected deputies, the party has never left Parliament. BE, founded in 1999, received two deputies that year. In 2002 this number increased to three. And despite fluctuations in representation (in 2019 the parliamentary group consisted of 19 deputies; currently there are only five), it has never returned to extra-parliamentary status.
The PRD, founded in 1985, elected 45 deputies that year – when voting took place for the first time. It became the third political force. From then on it continued to decline until extinction. Never before has another party had such a rapid rise and fall.
But the opposite also happens. If we pull the tape back in time, we come to the Democratic Renewal Party (PRD). Founded in 1985, in a context of austerity by the central bloc government of the PS and PSD (with Mário Soares and Mota Pinto as leaders), the PRD – then led by Hermínio Martinho – was elected that year to a significant number of deputies: 45. It was then the third political power. He never repeated that song again. Two years later, in 1987 (Ramalho Eanes was the leader), four deputies were elected. In 1991 the party left parliament and never returned.
Such cases have not been repeated since. An example of this is the National Solidarity Party (PSN) – founded in 1990, elected Manuel Sérgio in 1991 and disappeared after four years. And in the current situation, where the ideological space is almost completely filled, choosing and growing for the first time is more complicated.
“In a sense, the rise of the Liberal and Chega initiative came about because there were spaces that could be filled. The parties exist because there is demand. On the one hand, it is necessary to hunt for that space; on the other hand In these cases, dissatisfaction was reflected in opinion polls and surveys. In short, it takes a combination of factors to take revenge.”says Jorge Fernandes, researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences (ICS) of the University of Lisbon.
“Personally, I don’t think this is the system [eleitoral] it is not very tolerant or permeable, if we want it to be. The problem is campaign legislation.”
André Freire, professor and researcher at ISCTE
Looking at the European context, this is “normal”. ‘There are parties that are functionally equivalent [à IL e Chega]is not something new,” analyzes Jorge Fernandes, adding that the appearance of these political forces in Portugal has “brought the national political panorama closer to the European context.”
Revised electoral system?
But, heard by DN, André Freire, professor and researcher at ISCTE, points to another factor: the construction of electoral laws and, in a broader sense, the system. “Nano-parties, such as Livre or PAN, have appeared. The problem is not the electoral system that allowed these parties. Since the previous legislature, campaign rules have dictated that only those who have access to debates with peers are the parties in parliament. This makes life very difficult for new political forces. It could also be done in a different way, for example by going to surveys to see who was better and then they have access, for example,” says the professor.
Despite this openness for new parties to enter the political panorama, André Freire points to “a more serious problem”. “The system allows this access, yes, but it is only in large circles, i.e. Lisbon, Porto, maybe Aveiro or Braga. This problem with the structure of circles is harmful. Voters do not have the same voting options. For example, if you live in Bragança and sympathize with the Liberal Initiative, that vote is lost [porque o círculo elege três deputados]. While the parties are small, especially below the threshold of parliamentary representation. This is a structural problem with voters’ rights and also with the freedom of party competition.”
Jorge Fernandes is of the same opinion, despite finding the system “not very tolerant”, contrary to what André Freire defends. The ICS researcher states: “This is almost like having one country and two different systems, right? Small ones can only grow in large centers. This disadvantages them and ultimately leads to a waste of votes.” How can we change the situation? “One way to solve this problem would be, for example,” says André Freire, by creating a larger circle for certain areas. Create instead of the existing constituencies in Évora, Portalegre and Beja a larger, more extensive constituency, corresponding to Alentejo as a whole. This would increase the size of this circle,” he emphasizes.Personally, I don’t think the system is illicit or permeable, if you will. The problem is campaign legislation. In fact, it is said that the installed system has the right to debate as a couple, and the rest all together. This means that these other parties cannot run the same campaign”, argues André Freire.
“There are parties that are functionally the same, this is nothing new. [O aparecimento de IL e Chega] has come to make Portugal the national political panorama closest to the European context.”
Jorge Fernandes, researcher at ICS
Difficult to understand platforms
Looking at the Spanish reality – and despite the dominance of traditional parties (PP, right; PSOE, left) – other actors are emerging, such as Vox (extreme right) and Sumar (a platform that includes several left-wing parties), from Vice President Yolanda Diaz.
Translating this example into Portuguese reality may not be the most correct, despite the fact that it has given rise to smaller parties in Spain.
André Freire explains that there is already something like Sumar in Portugal: the Bloco de Esquerda (BE). “In its history, the bloc is an agglomeration of different things, almost all without great success – with the exception of the Popular Democratic Union (UDP), which took some shape in the first years after the Estado Novo,” the professor explains. “After that, several things were tried, such as the Agir platform, a union between the Portuguese Workers’ Party and the Socialist Alternative Movement, which did not work and which proves that more than just alliances need to be made, there must be some political guidance behind these agreements”, says the political scientist.
Jorge Fernandes takes a more critical look at the issue. According to the researcher from the Institute of Social Sciences, Sumar exists, but there are different factions that hate each other. Sumar was in fact created as a combination of parties without much expression, to gain a stage and some political space. internally, which caused a lot of votes to be lost, because they were such small parties.”Often we not only say ‘let’s make understanding agreements’, but we are all friends and let’s join hands and sing Kumbaya’It is more about having parties that understand each other”, he adds.
But these alliances can have a negative effect: “The PP and Vox in Spain together had many more votes than Rajoy in 2011, when Vox did not yet exist. Therefore, here, by hypothesis, if PCP and Bloco de If the Left decided to run as a coalition in the next elections, they would certainly have many more deputies than they have together. From the perspective of these small parties, this may not work for the time being,” concludes Jorge Fernandes.
Source: DN
