Portuguese presidential election, 1991

The Portuguese presidential election of 1991 was held on January 13.

The re-election of the hugely popular Mário Soares

Mário Soares

Mário Alberto Nobre Lopes Soares, GColTE, GCC, GColL, KE , Portuguese politician, served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 1976 to 1978 and from 1983 to 1985, and subsequently as the 17th President of Portugal from 1986 to 1996.-Family:...

was never in doubt, specially after the then-ruling PSD

Social Democratic Party (Portugal)

The Social Democratic Party , is a centre-right liberal conservative political party in Portugal. It is commonly known by its initials, PSD; on ballot papers, its initials appear as PPD/PSD, with the first three letters coming from the party's original name, Democratic People's Party...

, led by prime-minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva

Aníbal Cavaco Silva

Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, GCC , is the President of Portugal. He won the Portuguese presidential election on 22 January 2006 and was re-elected on 23 January 2011, for a second five-year term. Cavaco Silva was sworn in on 9 March 2006....

announced its support. Therefore, the election held on 13 January 1991 was a landslide, and no second round was needed.

As the election of a left-wing candidate was assured, the major left-wing parties, the Portuguese Communist Party

Portuguese Communist Party

The Portuguese Communist Party is a major left-wing political party in Portugal. It is a Marxist-Leninist party, and its organization is based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself to be patriotic and internationalist....

and the People's Democratic Union

People's Democratic Union (Portugal)

The People's Democratic Union is a marxist political movement in Portugal. The UDP transformed itself into a political association at its 15th congress due to its merger with other left-wing parties in the Left Bloc....

, presented their own candidates. The communists presented Carlos Carvalhas

Carlos Carvalhas

Carlos Alberto do Vale Gomes Carvalhas, GCC is a Portuguese politician and former Secretary-General of the Portuguese Communist Party , succeeding the historical leader Álvaro Cunhal....

, who had been Assistant General Secretary of the Party a year before (Álvaro Cunhal

Álvaro Cunhal

Álvaro Barreirinhas Cunhal, who used the name Álvaro Cunhal , was a Portuguese politician. He was one of the major opponents of the dictatorial regime of Estado Novo. He served as secretary-general of the Portuguese Communist Party from 1961 to 1992...

was the General Secretary). Carvalhas would later be elected General Secretary, in 1992.

On the right, as the Social Democratic Party

Social Democratic Party (Portugal)

supported Soares, the Democratic Social Center presented the only right-wing candidate, Basílio Horta.

Mário Soares achieved the majority of the votes in every district of the country, and 302 of the then 305 municipalities. His score was the biggest ever in a presidential election in Portugal.

Results

Summary of the 13 January 1991 Portuguese

Portugal

Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...

presidential

President of Portugal

Portugal has been a republic since 1910, and since that time the head of state has been the president, whose official title is President of the Portuguese Republic ....

election results

Elections in Portugal

Elections in Portugal gives information on election and election results in Portugal.Only the elections since the Carnation Revolution of 1974 are listed here. During the period encompassing the Constitutional Monarchy and the First Republic there were also elections, but only for a limited...

Mário Soares

|align=left|Socialist Party

Socialist Party (Portugal)

The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....

, Social Democratic Party

Social Democratic Party (Portugal)

Carlos Carvalhas

Carlos Alberto do Vale Gomes Carvalhas, GCC is a Portuguese politician and former Secretary-General of the Portuguese Communist Party , succeeding the historical leader Álvaro Cunhal....

|align=left|Portuguese Communist Party

Portuguese Communist Party

People's Democratic Union (Portugal)

|align="right" |126,581
|align="right" |2.57
|-
|colspan="3" align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total valid
|width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,917,854
|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|100.00
|-
|align=right colspan="3"|Blank ballots
|width="65" align="right" |112,877
|width="40" align="right" |2.21
|-
|align=right colspan="3" |Invalid ballots
|width="65" align="right"|68,037
|width="40" align="right"|1.33
|-
|colspan="3" align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total (turnout 62.16%)
|width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|5,098,768
|width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|
|-
|colspan=5 align=left|Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições
|}

External links

Portuguese Electoral Commission
NSD: European Election Database - Portugal publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1990-2010

Results

External links

See also