Constituent Assembly of Portugal
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The Constituent Assembly (Portuguese: Assembleia Constituinte) was the Portuguese constituent assembly elected on 25 April 1975, after the Carnation Revolution (25 April 1974), for the purpose of adopting a constitution for the Third Portuguese Republic, the Constitution of 1976.
Constituent Assembly Assembleia Constituinte | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Type | |
| Type | |
| History | |
| Established | 2 June 1975 |
| Disbanded | 2 April 1976 |
| Succeeded by | 1st Legislature |
| Leadership | |
President | |
Vice Presidents |
|
| Structure | |
| Seats | 250 |
 | |
Political groups | PS (116) PPD (81) PCP (30) CDS (16) MDP/CDE (5) UDP (1) ADIM (1) |
| Elections | |
| Party-list proportional representation | |
Last election | 25 April 1975 |
| Meeting place | |
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| São Bento Palace, Lisbon, Portugal | |
Background
After the Carnation Revolution, the National Salvation Junta dissolved all political offices previously existing in the Estado Novo (Law no. 1/74[2]). On 14 May 1974, the President of the National Salvation Junta, António de Spínola, abolished the National Assembly and the Corporative Chamber (Law no. 2/74[3]), the two parliamentary chambers in the Estado Novo, and established a transitory constitution (Law no. 3/74[3]) to be used until the new constitution was approved.
Election
The election of the Constituent Assembly was carried out in Portugal on 25 April 1975, exactly one year after the Carnation Revolution and was the first free election in fifty years, the first in the new democratic regime created after the revolution.
The election was won by the Socialist Party, with the Democratic People's Party being the second most voted party. The parliament had a large majority of moderate parties, from Socialism to Centrism, meaning a victory of "democratic legitimacy over revolutionary legitimacy".[4] A new Constitution was approved on 2 April 1976.
Composition
| Party | Parliamentary group leader | Elected | Dissolution | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seats | % | Seats | % | |||
| PS | António Lopes Cardoso (Beja) | 116 | 46.4 | 116 | 46.4 | |
| PPD | Carlos Mota Pinto (Coimbra) (1975) António Barbosa de Melo (Coimbra) (1975–1976) |
81 | 32.4 | 60 | 24.0 | |
| PCP | Octávio Pato (Lisbon) | 30 | 12.0 | 30 | 12.0 | |
| CDS | Victor Sá Machado (Lisbon) | 16 | 6.4 | 16 | 6.4 | |
| MDP/CDE | José Tengarrinha (Lisbon) | 5 | 2.0 | 5 | 2.0 | |
| UDP | João Pulido Valente (Lisbon) | 1 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.4 | |
| ADIM | Diamantino de Oliveira Ferreira (Macau) | 1 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.4 | |
| Independent | Various PPD deputies | 0 | 0.0 | 21 | 8.4 | |
| Total | 250 | 100.0 | 250 | 100.0 | ||
Changes
- Several Democratic People's Party (PPD) MPs → Independent: A total of 21 PPD MPs, including the party's parliamentary group leader, Carlos Mota Pinto, announced, on December 1975, that they were leaving the PPD and would become Independents, following deep disagreements with the party's leader, Francisco Sá Carneiro, regarding the ideology direction and policies of the party.[5]
Election for President of the Constituent Assembly
To be elected, a candidate needed to reach a minimum of 126 votes. The then interim President Henrique de Barros, from the Socialist Party, was easily elected:
| Election of the President of the Constituent Assembly | |||
| Ballot → | 5 June 1975 | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Required majority → | 126 out of 250 | ||
| Henrique de Barros (PS) | 233 / 250 |
 | |
| Vasco da Gama Fernandes (PS) | 1 / 250 |
 | |
| Blank ballots | 2 / 250 | ||
| Invalid ballots | 4 / 250 | ||
| Absentees | 10 / 250 | ||
| Sources:[6] | |||
See also
Notes
- Independent Democratic Association of Macau electoral list only in Macau.
