Everything points to a rare outcome in Portuguese democracy: a presidential race without a winner in the first round. To find a precedent it is necessary to go back to 1986, a decisive year in which the country, newly arrived in European Community, experienced one of the most polarized and participatory elections in history.
As this Sunday should be the first in 40 years to demand a second electoral round. All polls, estimates and political analyzes indicate that on January 18th none of the candidates will have an absolute majority. On January 26, 1986, Portugal went to the polls to choose the first civilian President. This was the last time that the race for Belém required a second ballot. What happened, who were the candidates and how were the elections contested at that time? What has changed since then and what remains when
It was an electoral process that marked the history of Portuguese democracy. The country had just joined the then EEC, European Economic Community, predecessor of the current European Union. Portugal was going through a time of change. Just over a decade had passed since the 25th of April, the political context was still very much marked by and the economy was slowly recovering from almost 50 years of dictatorship and was on the verge of the boost given by European funds.
Who were the candidates in 1986?
In the 1986 race for Belém there were only four candidates, . They contested the election Mário Soares, Diogo Freitas do Amaral, Francisco Salgado Zenha and Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo.
Angelo Velososupported by the PCP, withdrew his candidacy shortly before the election to support Salgado Zenha. However, the ballot paper included his name. Also in the current presidential, o in addition to the 11 who are actually in the electoral race.
Francisco Salgado Zenha, jurist and history of the democratic opposition to the Estado Novo. Minister of Justice in the first post-25th of April governments, he was founder, activist, leader and deputy of the PS until 1985, the year in which he announced the candidacy for the presidency of the Republic.
After leaving the PS due to disagreements with Mário Soares, Salgado Zenha ran for Belém. Despite being independent, he had the support of some sectors of the PCP and the Democratic Renewal Party (PRD)linked to the general , first democratically elected President after the revolution, who served two terms from 1976 to 1986.
Zenha had been a collaborator and friend of Mário Soares since Law School, but The rupture happened before the presidential elections. He always maintained a close relationship with the General Eanes.
Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo She was the first and only woman to head a government in Portugal, leaving a pioneering legacy in Portuguese politics. In the 1986 presidential elections it was supported by a coalition of independents, socialists and other left-wing forces. He did not have the support of any party, in fact he never had any party affiliation, although the center-left ideological positioning was evident in his priorities in what became known as the “Government of National Salvation”, which he led between 1979 and 1980.
Pintasilgo was appointed by the President of the Republic, Ramalho Eanes, to head a management Executive aimed at preparing the legislative elections of October 1980. These elections were won by the Democratic Alliance (AD), a center-right coalition led by Francisco Sá Carneiro, who would later in December of the same year.
Diogo Freitas do Amaral and Mário Soares were the candidates who would contest the second round of the 1986 Presidential elections.
He was a central figure in the democratic opposition to the Estado Novo dictatorship. He actively participated in opposition movements, was persecuted by the regime, was imprisoned and exiled in France. Returned to Portugal after April 25, 1974 to occupy the positions of Minister of Foreign Affairs and, shortly afterwards, Prime Minister.
Soares’ candidacy for Belém in 1986 was promoted by the PS and had the crucial support of the PCP in the second round, in a strategic and somewhat unexpected alliance, given that the communists had flatly refused to support Soares in the first electoral round, where the socialist candidate obtained 25.43% of the votes.
Diogo Freitas do Amaral won the first round with 46.31%. The Law professor is also considered one of the “founding fathers” of Portuguese democracy. He presented himself in the electoral dispute as the main figure of the CDS-PP and also had the support of the PSD, a right-wing alliance that had already played a role in the 1980 Legislature.
The right-wing union candidate, focused on his campaign on “national regeneration” and fulfilling a “patriotic duty”, was close to an absolute majority in the first round, but would end up being defeated in the second round, in which the left came together to defeat him.
Unlike current elections, this was a very well-participated vote. In the second round of the 1986 presidential elections, abstention was just 22.01%. Candidates Soares and Freitas competed in a hard-fought election, in which the socialist candidate won by a narrow margin of 138,692 votes. The final results of the vote on February 16, 1986 gave 51.18% for Soares and 48.82% for Freitas.
Political cohabitation with Cavaco and entry into the EEC
When Mário Soares became President in 1986, Portugal was experiencing a consolidated democracy after a period of political and governmental instability that followed the 25th of April. The Executive was led by the social democrat Aníbal Cavaco Silvawho had been elected in 1985.
Soares’ election marked the beginning of a long period of political cohabitation with Cavaco, which would last around a decade. One of the great events of that time and which would become A determining factor in the country’s evolution was entry into the EEC, a central objective for Mário Soares and for which he fought as Prime Ministera position he held in three distinct periods before becoming President of the Republic.
1986 campaign brought innovation to political communication
These presidential elections, who were the first to demand a second round and elect a civilian President, they also pioneered innovations during the intense and competitive electoral campaign. The investment in this area was evident, at a time when the population’s involvement and enthusiasm were very significant.
Campaign hymns, strong slogans and a whole paraphernalia of electoral marketing articles that went of the stickers to pens, flags and even straw hatswho became famous in the Freitas do Amaral campaign. These were news in an electoral campaign that drew crowds from North to South of the country.
Campaign actions they mobilized many young people and also children, eager to collect colorful ballpoint pens and more stickers for the collection. At parties and rallies there was no shortage of music and well-known artists. The campaign anthems remained in the memories of many, as well as an electoral campaign very inspired by what was being done in North American politics.
