Politics in Portugal operates as a unitary multi-party semi-presidential representative democratic republic, whereby the Prime Minister of Portugal is the head of government, and the President of Portugal is the non-executive head of state which, although it is a somewhat ceremonial figure, has some significant political powers they exercise often. Executive power is exercised by the Government, whose leader is the prime minister. Legislative power is primarily vested in the Assembly of the Republic, although the government is also able to legislate on certain matters. The Judiciary of Portugal is independent of the executive and the legislature. The President exerts a sort of "moderating power", not easily classified into any of the traditional three branches of government.
The prime minister of Portugal is the head of government of Portugal. As head of government, the prime minister coordinates the actions of ministers, represents the Government of Portugal to the other bodies of state, is accountable to parliament and keeps the president informed. The prime minister can hold the role of head of government with the portfolio of one or more ministries. As Portugal is a semi-presidential parliamentary republic, the prime minister is the country's leading political figure and de facto chief executive.
The Socialist Party is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel by militants who were at the time with the Portuguese Socialist Action. The PS is a member of the Socialist International, Progressive Alliance and Party of European Socialists, and has eight members in the European Parliament within the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group during the 10th European Parliament.
The Social Democratic Party is a liberal-conservative political party in Portugal that is currently the country's ruling party. Commonly known by its colloquial initials PSD, on ballot papers its initials appear as its official form PPD/PSD, with the first three letters coming from the party's original name, the Democratic People's Party. A party of the centre-right, the PSD is one of the two major parties in Portuguese politics, its rival being the Socialist Party (PS) on the centre-left.
The CDS – People's Party is a conservative and Christian democratic political party in Portugal. It is characterized as being between the centre-right and right-wing of the political spectrum. In voting ballots, the party's name appears only as the People's Party, with the abbreviation CDS–PP unchanged.
António Luís Santos da Costa is a Portuguese lawyer and politician who currently serves as President of the European Council.
The 2005 Portuguese legislative election took place on 20 February. The election renewed all 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic.
Francisco José Pereira de Assis Miranda is a Portuguese politician who served as a Member of the European Parliament (MEP) for the Socialist Party. He was part of the Party of European Socialists from 2004 to 2009, and again from 2014 until 2019. He is also a former mayor of Amarante, having been in office from 1989 to 1995, and member of the Assembly of Republic on two occasions, the first from 1995 to 2004 and the second from 2009 to 2014.
Presidential elections were held in Portugal on 7 December 1980.
Presidential elections were held in Portugal on 22 January 2006 to elect a successor to the incumbent President Jorge Sampaio, who was term-limited from running for a third consecutive term by the Constitution of Portugal. The result was a victory in the first round for Aníbal Cavaco Silva of the Social Democratic Party candidate, the former Prime Minister, won 50.54 percent of the vote in the first round, just over the majority required to avoid a runoff election. It was the first time in which a right-wing candidate was elected President of the Republic since the 1974 Carnation Revolution.
The 2002 Portuguese legislative election took place on 17 March. The election renewed all 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic.
The Third Portuguese Republic is a period in the history of Portugal corresponding to the current democratic regime installed after the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, that put an end to the paternal autocratic regime of Estado Novo of António de Oliveira Salazar and Marcelo Caetano. It was initially characterized by constant instability and was threatened by the possibility of a civil war during the early post-revolutionary years. A new constitution was drafted, censorship was prohibited, free speech declared, political prisoners were released and major Estado Novo institutions were closed. Eventually the country granted independence to its African colonies and began a process of democratization that led to the accession of Portugal to the EEC in 1986.
The 2009 Portuguese legislative election was held on 27 September, to renew all 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic. In these elections there were approximately 9.5 million Portuguese at home and abroad called to determine the 230 seats in the Assembleia da República and 18th constitutional government in Portugal after 1976.
The 2015 Portuguese legislative election was held on 4 October. All 230 seats of the Assembly of the Republic were in contention.
António José Martins Seguro is a Portuguese politician for the Socialist Party (PS). Seguro was Secretary General of the PS from 2011 until September 2014, and he was the leader of the largest opposition party in the Portuguese Parliament.
The 2014 Socialist Party General Secretary primary elections was held on 28 September 2014, the first primary open for non-members of the Socialist Party (PS). It elected the party's candidate for Prime Minister of Portugal in the 2015 legislative election. It was the first time in Portugal that a party had an open primary. There were only two candidates running: António José Seguro, the incumbent general secretary of the party, and António Costa, the mayor of Lisbon. António Costa won the primary by a landslide, achieving about 68% of the votes against the 32% of António José Seguro.
Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Portugal in January 2026. The election will elect the successor to President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who is barred from running for a third term.
The 2022 Portuguese Social Democratic Party leadership election was held on 28 May 2022. If no candidate achieved more than 50% of the votes in the first round, a second round would be held between the two most voted candidates in the first round on 4 June 2022, however, as only two candidates were on the ballot, Luís Montenegro and Jorge Moreira da Silva, a second round was not necessary. Nearly 45,000 party members, out of more than 85,000 active members, were registered to vote.
The 2023 Portuguese Socialist Party leadership election was held on 15 and 16 December 2023. The leadership ballot was called after Prime Minister and Socialist Party Secretary-General António Costa resigned from office on 7 November 2023. The winner of this election led the Socialist Party into the 2024 legislative election.
The 2011 Portuguese Socialist Party leadership election was held on 22 and 23 July 2011. The leadership ballot was called after former Prime Minister and Socialist Party Secretary-General José Sócrates resigned as leader of the PS, following the party's defeat on the 2011 legislative elections.
