Portugal. José M. Magone. Introduction

Transcription

1 25 Portugal José M. Magone Introduction Since 17 March 2002, Portugal has been ruled by a right-centre coalition government, consisting of the liberal-modernist social democratic party Partido Social Democrata (PSD) led by EU Commission President designate José Manuel Durao Barroso, and the conservative-eurosceptic Democratic Social Centre-People s Party (Centro Democratico e Social-Partido Popular CDS-PP) led by populist Paulo Portas. The governing coalition came to power after the resignation of the socialist prime minister Antonio Guterres following big losses in the local elections on 14 December President Jorge Sampaio, after consulting the main political forces and the state council, then called for early elections. In March 2002, Barroso s PSD was unable to win an absolute majority and formed a coalition with the CDS-PP. The right-centre coalition campaigned with an austerity programme to cut the budget deficit, which exceeded the previous Guterres government limit of 3 per cent of GDP set up by the EU Growth and Stability Pact. Indeed, in July 2002 the EU Commission estimated Portugal s budget deficit at 4.1 per cent. Finance Minister Manuela Ferreira Leite introduced public sector cuts, especially in the oversized public administration. This simply added to the already dire economic recession. Austerity persisted throughout 2003 with negative growth and accelerating unemployment by the end of the year. During 2003, Portugal was also shattered by a major paedophilia scandal in the Casa Pia, the major charity taking on orphan and abandoned children. Several prominent public figures were indicted, including Paulo Pedroso, a former minister in the previous Guterres government. The support of socialist leader Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues for Pedroso led to a major crisis inside the party. A further paedophilia scandal broke out in the island archipelago of 210 J. L o d g e ( e d. ), The 2004 Elections to the European Parliament P a l g r a v e M a c m i l l a n, a d i v i s i o n o f M a c m i l l a n P u b l i s h e r s L i m i t e d

2 Portugal 211 Azores which added to the negative image of the country and simultaneously to a depressing atmosphere in politics. Although the European Convention was discussed thoroughly in Portugal, it remained very much an elitist undertaking and did not engage the public. Portugal s approach to European integration so far has been dominated by public administration and characterised by mere reactive adaptation to demands from Brussels. In the 1999 election, 25 MEPs were elected in a single constituency by the d Hondt system of proportional representation. Nevertheless, under the negotiations of the Treaty of Nice, Portugal lost one seat and therefore in 2004 only 24 MEPs were to be elected. EP elections in Portugal are second order, and in contrast to Denmark and the UK, they more or less mirror the national party system. This is reinforced by the fact that the Eurosceptic vote is small and the vast majority of the population is very pro-european, even though it is insufficiently informed about EU institutions and policies. The 2004 Euro-election The year 2004 had a symbolic importance for two reasons. First because Portugal hosted the prestgious European football championship in June July The so-called Euro 2004 was seen as an opportunity to overcome the previous years of recession and put the country back on the map. Euro 2004 was acclaimed as a big success by the European football federation UEFA. This was reinforced by a brilliant performance by the Portuguese team which reached the final and became European vice-champions. Second, Portugal celebrated the thirtieth anniversary of its democracy on 25 April, the day on which the former authoritarian dictatorship had been toppled by the Movement of Armed Forces (MFA) in a bloodless coup d état in Although Portugal has still many weaknesses and problems, democracy is now strongly rooted in the country. The European elections were overshadowed by the European Football championships. Voters went to the polls on Sunday 13 June, after Portugal had played its first match against Greece and lost 2:1. Moreover, the day was quite hot and many people simply headed for the beach. It was also St Anthony s day, the patron saint of Lisbon, so many took this opportunity to have a long weekend starting on 10 June, a national holiday, until 13 or 14 of June. These factors help explain the low turnout of 38.7 per cent, compared to the per cent in the 1999 EP elections. European elections are normally contested by a number of smaller parties as well as the five main parties. Nineteen parties took part under the aegis of 13 official electoral groups. The list of candidates included two coalitions. The more important one was the governmental PSD and CDS-PP coalition called Forca Portugal ( Go on Portugal ) emulating Silvio Berlusconi s Forza Italia and trying opportunistically to capitalise on public enthusiasm for Euro 2004 and

3 212 The 2004 Elections to the European Parliament support for the Portuguese football team. The list was headed by former EU Commissioner Joao de Deus Pinheiro, who felt a bit misplaced in the overall strategy of the governmental parties given that he was the coalition s second choice as list leader following former party leader Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa s decision not to head the list. A joint effort via Forca Portugal was agreed by the two main parties on 13 April Indeed, until now the PSD members belonged to the European People s Party (EPP) and the CDS-PP members to the Union for Europe of the Nations (UEN) (Expresso, 9 and 17 April 2004). The Democratic Unitary Coalition (Coligacao Democratica Unitária CDU) consisted of the Communist Party (Partido Comunista Portugues PCP) and the Greens (Partido Ecologista Os Verdes PEV) and was headed by Ilda Figueiredo. The CDU took a critical stance on the Iraq War, demanding a more independent EU position. The CDU campaigned for a referendum on the new constitutional treaty. Internal problems also surfaced within the Communist Party which had been in the limelight over the past two years owing to dissent over its leadership. The Socialist Party (Partido Socialista PS), winner of the 1999 EP elections, hoped to exploit growing public discontent over the Barroso government s austerity policies. PS nominated the prominent former president of the Audit Court and former minister in the Guterres government, Antonio Sousa Franco, as head of the list. In the 1999 elections Mario Soares had headed the list and led a campaign making the case for his election as President of the European Parliament, thwarted in the event by opposition from the European People s Party. Antonio Sousa Franco, however, secured instant recognition owing to his general popularity. Nevertheless, in the last week of the campaign, he collapsed in the middle of campaigning in Matosinhos and died instantly. Further to the left, the elections were contested by the Left Block (Bloco da Esquerda BE) comprising four small extreme left and new wave parties: the Trotskyite Socialist Revolutionary Party (Partido Socialista Revolucionario PSR), the Maoist People s Democratic Union (Uniao Democratica Popular UDP), the new wave Politics XXI, and the Left Revolutionary Front (Frente de Esquerda Revolucionaria FER). Their roots go back to the revolutionary period. The BE has been quite successful since 1999 in winning seats in the Assembly of the Republic. The left bloc list was headed by Miguel Portas, brother of CDS-PP leader Paulo Portas. Miguel Portas had to fund the campaign personally owing to a lack of campaign funds. Regarded as the main rival to the communist coalition, opinion polls predicted that BE would win one seat in the European Parliament. Apart from these main electoral lists, nine other parties contested the elections. All were too small to constitute a real challenge to the main parties. On the right, was the New Democracy Party (Partido da Nova Democracia PND) led by Manuel Monteiro, former CDS-PP leader. He decided to found a new party in 2003, due to growing disappointment with the policies of his

4 Portugal 213 former party supporting deeper integration. Accordingly, PND is strongly Eurosceptic and against further integration. A highly nationalist, extreme right-wing party, the National Renewal Party (Partido Renovador Democratico PNR) founded in 2000, also ran. It copies the positions of Jean Marie Le Pen, leader of the French Front Nationale; of Nicholas Griffin of the British National Party, and Gianfranco Fini of the National Alliance (Alleanza Nazionale). It uses slogans such as Portuguese first! or Portugal First! to mobilise its voters. It presents ready-made solutions to the problems of corruption, unemployment, immigration and criminality. Also on the right is the People s Monarchic Party (Partido Popular Monárquico PPM) founded in It was at its height between 1979 and 1983 when it was in the centre-right coalition called Democratic Alliance, led by the PSD. It has been in decline ever since. One of the main leaders of the PPM decided to found a new ecological party in 1994 and so split the vote. The Party of the Earth Movement (Partido Movimento da Terra MPT), led by Goncalo Ribeiro Telles, has been unable so far to make any real headway. On the left, two tiny extreme left-wing parties are still active, inspite of a decline of their electoral support. By far the most important is the Maoist Communist Party of Portuguese Workers-Movement for the Reorganisation of the Party of Proletariat (Partido Comunista dos Trabalhadores Portugueses- Movimento Reorganizativo do Partido do Proletariado PCTP-MRPP), led by Arnaldo Matos and Garcia Pereira, who presented Orlando Alves as head of list. The PCTP-MRPP follows a strong Marxist-Leninist-Maoist ideology which is anti-capitalist in its rhetoric. In respect of the EU, it advocated a referendum on the constitutional treaty. The less important extreme left-wing group is the Trotskyite Workers Party for Socialist Unity (Partido Operario de Unidade Socialista POUS) led by Carmelinda Pereira and Aires Rodrigues and usually winning 4,000 5,000 votes in elections. Additionally, three other tiny parties took part that are difficult to locate in a left right spectrum.the Democratic Party of the Atlantic (Partido Democratico do Atlantico PDA) is a regionalist party in the autonomous regions Azores and Madeira. It is a tiny party of friends mostly based in the Ponta Delgada in the Azores. It is a moderate version of previous independence movements in both islands. Another, the Humanist Party (Partido Humanista) advocates a non-violent way of life for human beings. The head of its list was lawyer Luis Guerra, who called for an open Europe, a Europe of cultures and of new times. The Movement for the Ill (Movimento do Doente) ran as a single issue party, demanding better health care. The campaign and campaign issues All the parties emphasised the importance of boosting turnout. The EP office in Lisbon invested in a campaign of posters and rock concerts to bolster awareness of the EP elections. This was also reinforced by a campaign of

5 214 The 2004 Elections to the European Parliament the National Electoral Commission designed to encourage the electorate to vote. In terms of advertising, each political party was entitled to free television time, allocated according to the strength of the political parties, by public and private television as well as radio. Each party was entitled to public reimbursement of electoral campaign expenditures in line with its election results. The campaign began at the end of April. The main issue overshadowing the EP elections was the government s austerity policies which opposition parties said damaged the economy and exacerbated rising unemployment. The negative discourse of the government led to a general decline in confidence in the Portuguese economy. The coalition parties countered with the argument that they were only sorting out a budget deficit inherited from the previous Socialist government. The coalition parties targeted the head of list of the Socialist party Antonio Sousa Franco, who had been the Finance Minister of the previous government. He was called by the Forca Portugal coalition as the father of the budget deficit. Apart from this dispute between the two main parties, the communist coalition took a more Eurosceptic line making the case for a referendum on the new constitutional treaty and criticising the Growth and Stability Pact. This was reinforced by similar eurosceptic arguments by the BE on the left and Monteiro s New Democracy on the right. European issues were far more prominent that in the 1999 elections. The political groupings tended to emphasise the growing convergence of European and national policies. The most European of candidates was Antonio Sousa Franco from the Socialist Party which fully endorsed all European policies. The Socialist Party emphasised the European legacy of the Socialist Party going back to the foundation of the party in Its slogan was With Europe in all big events ( Com a Europa em todos grandes momentos ). Forca Portugal s electoral programme was a compromise between the PSD and CDS-PP. Although it emphasised the importance of the EU and its policies for the future development of the country, it also highlighted the importance of defending national interests. One of the main campaign posters included a photograph of Deus Pinheiro and the word competence (competencia). The use of the national flag as the symbol of the coalition led to major opposition protests who lambasted this as mere opportunism due to the European football championships. This footballisation of the campaign was unprecedented in Portuguese electoral history. According to Article 12 of the law on political parties, no party may use or abuse national symbols such as the national flag. Of the two coalition parties, the junior partner had to make major ideological concessions, and rein in their strong Eurosceptic elements. Therefore, the CDS-PP had major difficulties in dealing with the New Democracy Party of Manuel Monteiro, which was able to exploit the situation even though it was seen negatively by its junior partner in Forca Portugal. On several occasions, Deus Pinheiro was pressured by CDS-PP not to

6 Portugal 215 take part in debates with Manuel Monteiro and the latter claimed that he was being discriminated against by the main parties (Expresso, 15 May 2004). The Communist coalition coordinated its campaign with all other European communist parties. The common platform agreed in Nicosia stressed the view that the EU should be a counterbalance to the United States and be proactive in promoting peace. Moreover, it emphasised the need for proactive employment policies, environmental aspects and the referendum for the constitutional treaty. The left bloc also presented a pro-peace message, emphasising aspects of solidarity within the EU. It called for a refoundation of the European Union not ruled by the directorate of the rich countries. In this sense, the BE competed for left-wing votes. The death of Antonio Sousa Franco in the last week of the campaign led to an early end of the campaign as a mark of respect for such a prominent Portuguese politician. Election results The last opinion poll in the week before the elections predicted victory for the Socialists. The main weekly newspaper Expresso predicted that the Socialist Party would win 43.3 per cent of the vote and 11 seats, Forca Portugal 37.8 per cent and 10 seats, the communist coalition CDU 7.7 per cent of the vote and two seats, the left bloc 5.6 per cent of the vote and one seat (Expresso, 10 June 2004). The actual result exceeded expectations for the left-wing parties. Governmental parties lost heavily and the centre-right parties suffered their worst defeat since the advent of the new democratic regime. The difference between the PS and Forca Portugal was 11.2 per cent (Table 25.1). Left-wing parties captured together accounted for 60 per cent of the vote, and the right 36 per cent. The coalition parties lost 230,000 votes compared to the 1999 EP elections. Most of their voters either abstained or switched to the PS and the other smaller parties. In terms of electoral geography the coalition parties disappeared from the larger cities, from the Algarve and many northern localities, which have been in the past centre-right strongholds. The coalition parties were replaced by the Socialist Party. The coalition government lost also in the autonomous regions of Madeira and Azores, traditionally PSD strongholds. The EP elections were the first test of the coalition government. The results suggest a strong protest against the government as well as a vote for Antonio Sousa Franco. The big winner, however, was the new small left bloc, which won 4.9 per cent of the vote and one EP seat for its first MEP, Miguel Portas. This was a big achievement for this new formation consisting of different small left-wing parties which is now a force to be reckoned with nationally and at European level. The group tends to attract young voters in the larger cities. It has become a major threat to the communist coalition, which, in spite of the remarkable result of 9.1 per cent, lost 50,000 voters compared to the EP elections of Manuel Monteiro s New Democracy won 1 per cent of the vote and may be a threat to the CDS-PP in future elections.

7 216 The 2004 Elections to the European Parliament Table 25.1 European Parliament election results in Portugal, 1999 and 2004 Party/Coalition % Seats % Seats Socialist Party(PS) Forca Portugal(PSD/CDS/PP) Socialdemocratic Party(PSD) Democratic Social Centre/People s Party(CDS/PP) Democratic Unitary Coalition(PCP-PEV) Block of the Left(BE) New Democracy(ND) 1 Communist Party of Portuguese Workers (PCTP/MRPP) Monarchic People s Party(PPM) Party of the Earth Movement(MPT) Movement for the Ill(MD) 0.4 Humanist Party(PH) 0.4 National Renewal Party(PNR) 0.2 Workers Party for Socialist Unity(POUS) Democratic Party of the Atlantic(PDA) Turnout(Abstention) in Percentage 38.7 (61.3) 40(60) Sources: STAPE, 2004; CNE, The 2004 EP election was characterised by a high level of abstentionism. Although it did not reach the 64.4 per cent abstention rate in the 1994 EP elections, it still reached 61.3 per cent. Even in the UK, turnout was slightly higher than in Portugal. Only Estonia, Poland, Slovakia, Czech Republic, Slovenia and Sweden had higher levels of abstentionism. Portugal s turnout fell below the EU average of 45.7 per cent. Among its elected MEPs are six women (corresponding to 25 per cent of the delegation to the EP), including four Socialist Party members, one from Forca Portugal and one from the communist coalition. Conclusions: a victory for the left The European elections in Portugal were dominated by the negative impact of the austerity policies of the right-centre coalition government under Prime Minister Manuel Durao Barroso, who meanwhile was nominated as the new President of the European Commission. The opportunistic creation of the electoral coalition Forca Portugal went horribly wrong for the parties of the coalition government. All opposition parties gained at the expense of the centre-right. EU issues, notably the constitutional treaty and security, while important, were overshadowed by national concerns in respect of the EU Growth and Stability Pact and domestic management of the economy.

8 Portugal 217 Among the new MEPs are very able people who have either governmental or parliamentary experience, such as Antonio Costa, Capoulas Santos, Edite Ferreira and Manuel dos Santos (all from the Socialist Party), Joao de Deus Pinheiro, Vasco Graca Moura and Silva Peneda (PSD), Ilda Figueiredo (PCP- PEV) and naturally Miguel Portas (BE). In sum, the EP elections in Portugal were characterised by a protest vote against the austerity policies of the government, and by the emergence of new political parties on the left and right of the spectrum which campaigned strongly on European issues. Bibliography Bloco de Esquerda (BE) (2004) Manifesto do Bloco de Esquerda para as Eleicoes ao Parlamento Europeu Refundar a Europa.Mudar Portugal, < Comissao Nacional de Eleicoes (CNE) (2004) < Expresso (weekly newspaper), < Forca Portugal (2004), Manifesto Forca Portugal. Mais Europa, Melhor Portugal, <www. fp.pt> (accessed 28 June 2004) Lobo, M.C., Legitimizing the EU? Elections to the European Parliament in Portugal, , in A.C. Pinto (ed.), Contemporary Portugal. Politics, Society and Culture (New York: Columbia University Press, 2003), pp Magone, J.M., Portugal, in J. Lodge (ed.), The 1999 Elections to the European Parliament (Basingstroke: Palgrave, 2001), pp Magone, J.M., Portugal, in Richard Katz (ed.), Political Data Yearbook 2002, in European Journal of Political Research, 42:7 8, December (2003), pp Magone, J.M., Attitudes of Southern European Citizens Towards European Integration: Before and After Accession, , in Antonio Costa Pinto and Nuno Severiano Teixeira (eds), Southern Europe and the Making of the European Union (New York: Columbia University Press, 2002), pp Magone, J.M., The Developing Place of Portugal in the European Union (New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers, 2004) Magone, J.M., Portugal, in Richard Katz and Ingrid van Biezen (eds), Political Data Yearbook 2003, in European Journal of Political Research 43:7 8, December (2004) O Publico (daily newspaper) < Partido Socialista (2004) Pela Europa, pelos Portugueses. Documento-base para a Convencao Nacional Europa 2004, in < (accessed 28 June 2004) Partido Comunista Portugues (2004) Declaracao do Encontro Nacional do PCP sobre as Eleicoes para o Parlamento Europeu. 28 Fevereiro de 2004, < eleicoes/documentos/decl htm> (accessed 28 June 2004) Partido Comunista Portugues (2004) Plataforma eleitoral comum para o Parlamento Europeu 27 de Abril 2004, < decl htm> Partido Nacional Renovador (PNR) < Secretariado para o Tratamento Administrativo do Processo Eleitoral (STAPE) (2004), < STAPE, Eleicoes para o Parlamento Europeu Atlas Eleitoral (Lisboa: STAPE, 2003) Torres, F., and A. Fraga, What Europe? Portugal s Reactive Adaptation to European and Institutional Changes, in Sonia Lucarelli and Claudio Radaelli (eds), Mobilizing Politics and Society? The EU Convention s Impact on Southern Europe, a special issue of South European Society and Politics, 19:1, summer (2004)