1989 Lisbon local election

Main article: 1989 Portuguese local elections

1989 Lisbon local elections

← 1985 17 December 1989 1993  →
All 17 Councillors in the Lisbon City Council 9 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	54.8% 4.0 pp
First party Second party   Leader Jorge Sampaio Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Party PS PSD Alliance For Lisbon [a] Live Better in Lisbon [b] Last election 8 seats, 45.5% [c] 9 seats, 49.8% [d] Seats won 9 8 Seat change 1 1 Popular vote 180,635 154,888 Percentage 49.1% 42.1% Swing 3.6 pp 7.7 pp
Mayor before election Nuno Krus Abecasis PSD Elected Mayor Jorge Sampaio PS

The 1989 Lisbon local election was held on 17 December 1989 to elect the members of the Lisbon City Council.

Former minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, announced his candidacy for Mayor of Lisbon, with a coalition between the Social Democrats, the Centrists and the Monarchists. Meanwhile, Jorge Sampaio, the secretary-general of the Socialist Party, unnexpectedly announced that he would be the party's candidate for Mayor of Lisbon, forming a coalition with the Communist Party and it's allies (PEV and MDP/CDE). Hermínio Martinho, the former leader of the Democratic Renewal Party, was also a candidate. ^[1]

Sampaio won with 49% of the votes and 9 seats, beating Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa who got 42% of the votes and elected 8 seats.

Background

In the 1985 election, incumbent Mayor Nuno Krus Abecasis ran as the Social Democratic candidate, winning with 44.8% of the votes and electing 8 seats, one short of a majority. The United People Alliance finished second, with 27.5% of the votes and 5 seats, well ahead of the Socialist Party, led by Helena Torres Marques, with 18.0% of the votes and 3 seats. The People's Monarchist Party ended up getting one seat, after getting 5.1% of the votes.

Electoral system

Each party or coalition must present a list of candidates. The winner of the most voted list for the municipal council is automatically elected mayor, similar to first-past-the-post (FPTP). The lists are closed and the seats in each municipality are apportioned according to the D'Hondt method. ^{[2] [3]}

Parties and candidates

Party/Coalition			Political position	Candidate	1985 result		Ref.
					Votes (%)	Seats
	VML	Live Better in Lisbon Viver Melhor em Lisboa PSD, CDS, PPM	Centre-right to right-wing	Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa	49.8% [d]	9 / 17	[1]
	PL	For Lisbon Por Lisboa PS, PCP, PEV, MDP/CDE	Centre-left to left-wing	Jorge Sampaio	45.5% [c]	8 / 17	[1]
	PCTP	Portuguese Workers' Communist Party Partido Comunista dos Trabalhadores Portugueses	Far-left	António Garcia Pereira	0.4%	0 / 17	[4]
	PRD	Democratic Renewal Party Partido Renovador Democrático	Centre to centre-left	Hermínio Martinho	—	0 / 17	[5]
	FER	Revolutionary Left Front Frente da Esquerda Revolucionária	Far-left	Gil Garcia	—	0 / 17	[6]

Results

Municipal Council

Summary of the 17 December 1989 Lisbon City Council election results

9 8
Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Councillors
					Total	±
	PS / PCP / PEV / MDP/CDE	180,635	49.07	3.6	9	1
	PSD / CDS / PPM	154,888	42.07	7.7	8	1
	Democratic Renewal	11,453	3.11	—	0	—
	Portuguese Workers' Communist	6,390	1.74	1.3	0	0
	Revolutionary Left Front	1,326	0.36	—	0	—
Total valid		342,132	96.59	0.1	17	0
Blank ballots		7,492	1.87	0.2
Invalid ballots		5,659	1.54	0.1
Total		367,610	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		670,447	54.83	1.3
Source: Lisbon 1989 election results

Municipal Assembly

Summary of the 17 December 1989 Lisbon City Council election results

28 2 24
Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Seats
					Total	±
	PS / PCP / PEV / MDP/CDE	182,237	49.57	0.7	28	1
	PSD / CDS / PPM	154,744	42.09	2.3	24	1
	Democratic Renewal	12,685	3.45	—	2	—
	Portuguese Workers' Communist	6,390	1.42	0.7	0	—
Total valid		354,425	96.52	0.4	54	0
Blank ballots		7,502	1.92	0.0
Invalid ballots		5,717	1.56	0.4
Total		367,644	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		670,447	54.84	3.9
Source: Lisbon 1989 election results [7] [8]

Parish Assemblies

Results of the 17 December 1989 Lisbon Parish Assembly elections

Parish	%	S	%	S	%	S	Total S
	PS/CDU/ MDP/CDE		PSD/CDS/ PPM		PRD
Ajuda	61.2	13	30.2	6	3.5	-	19
Alcântara	58.8	12	34.8	7	2.7	-	19
Alto do Pina	39.8	5	53.8	8			13
Alvalade	34.7	5	59.9	8	2.4	-	13
Ameixoeira	57.6	8	34.2	5	2.9	-	13
Anjos	42.3	6	49.9	7	3.4	-	13
Beato	56.5	8	32.7	5	4.1	-	13
Benfica	50.9	12	41.3	9	2.6	-	21
Campo Grande	46.9	6	48.0	7			13
Campolide	52.8	11	37.4	8	4.4	-	19
Carnide	62.5	9	30.9	4			13
Castelo	64.1	5	29.4	2			7
Charneca	53.3	8	35.1	5			13
Coração de Jesus	40.5	6	52.4	7	3.7	-	13
Encarnação	50.7	7	41.2	6	5.2	-	13
Graça	54.7	8	39.8	5			13
Lapa	39.5	5	56.3	8			13
Lumiar	47.8	10	44.1	9	2.9	-	19
Madalena	50.7	4	42.8	3			7
Mártires	40.7	3	55.8	4			7
Marvila	64.1	14	21.8	5	5.4	1	20
Mercês	52.8	7	41.9	6			13
Nossa Senhora de Fátima	39.6	8	54.4	11	1.8	-	19
Pena	46.9	7	43.8	6	5.1	-	13
Penha de França	50.6	7	41.2	6	3.4	-	13
Prazeres	55.4	8	38.5	5			13
Sacramento	51.9	5	44.8	4			9
Santa Catarina	51.3	7	38.7	6	4.6	-	13
Santa Engrácia	52.9	7	41.8	6			13
Santa Isabel	42.7	6	47.9	7	3.7	-	13
Santa Justa	48.7	5	44.7	4			9
Santa Maria de Belém	50.0	7	43.6	6	3.1	-	13
Santa Maria dos Olivais	54.5	14	35.6	9	3.9	-	23
Santiago	63.6	6	33.2	3			9
Santo Condestável	51.3	11	40.6	8	2.9	-	19
Santo Estêvão	68.4	7	27.0	2			9
Santos-o-Velho	54.5	8	40.3	5			13
São Cristóvão e São Lourenço	49.4	5	45.9	4			9
São Domingos de Benfica	46.7	9	48.1	10	2.7	-	19
São Francisco Xavier	35.2	5	62.1	8			13
São João	52.8	11	39.1	8	3.3	-	19
São João de Brito	36.2	5	59.2	8	2.1	-	13
São João de Deus	36.5	5	60.6	8			13
São Jorge de Arroios	43.4	9	50.0	10	2.5	-	19
São José	52.5	7	43.1	6			13
São Mamede	42.7	6	53.8	7			13
São Miguel	71.2	7	22.3	2			9
São Nicolau	50.3	5	45.1	4			9
São Paulo	57.2	8	37.5	5			13
São Sebastião da Pedreira	34.0	4	62.9	9			13
Santo Vicente de Fora	62.6	9	33.4	4			13
Sé	48.7	5	46.3	4			9
Socorro	47.6	7	41.5	6	5.2	-	13
Total	49.7	392	42.7	325	2.4	1	718
Source: Election Results [7] [8]

References

1. "Sampaio e Marcelo: a história de um debate decisivo na vida de ambos". Expresso (in Portuguese). 2021-09-10. Retrieved 2025-05-29.
2. "::: Lei n.º 169/99, de 18 de Setembro". www.pgdlisboa.pt. Retrieved 2022-02-12.
3. "Eleição dos titulares dos órgãos das autarquias locais" (in Portuguese). Diário da República. 14 August 2001. Retrieved 17 July 2025.
4. "Garcia Pereira candidato à Câmara de Lisboa" (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-05-29.
5. "Entrevista a Hermínio Martinho" (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-05-29.
6. "Campanha da FER para as autárquicas de Lisboa" (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2025-05-29.
7. "Diário da República Suplemento Sumário Comissão Nacional de Eleições Mapa oficial: Resultado das eleições para os orgãos das autarquias locais" (PDF). Comissão Nacional de Eleições (in Portuguese). 30 August 1990. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
8. "Autarquias Locais - 1976 a 2009". SGMAI (in Portuguese). Retrieved 8 June 2025.

Notes

1. Coalition with PS, PCP, PEV and MDP/CDE.
2. Coalition with PSD, CDS and PPM.
3. Sum of votes and seats of the APU and the PS in the 1985 election. APU: 27.5%, 5 seats; PS: 18.0%, 3 seats.
4. Sum of votes and seats of the PSD and the PPM in the 1985 election. PSD: 44.8%, 8 seats; PPM: 5.1%, 1 seat.