The Democratic Alliance (, AD) was a

centre-right Centre-right politics is the set of right-wing politics, right-wing political ideologies that lean closer to the political centre. It is commonly associated with conservatism, Christian democracy, liberal conservatism, and conservative liberalis ...

political alliance A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...

, in

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

composed of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

(PSD), CDS – People's Party (CDS–PP) and the People's Monarchist Party (PPM). It existed between 1979 and 1983, and was refounded for the 2024 legislative election. After its first official dissolution, the coalition was continued to operated in local elections after 1989 and presented lists across the country in every single local election after 2001. In the first creation, the alliance was composed of the

(PSD), the Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) and the People's Monarchist Party (PPM), including also a group of dissidents of the right wing of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(PS) who were disappointed by the previous Soares government, called The Reformers, including José Medeiros Ferreira (who would later rejoin the PS), António Barreto (who remained a more or less centre/rightwing aligned independent) and Francisco Sousa Tavares (who joined the Social Democratic Party afterwards). The coalition was first formed in 1979 in order to run to the December 1979 legislative election. The alliance was led by Francisco Sá Carneiro and Freitas do Amaral, and won the 1979 and 1980 legislative elections, which led to Sá Carneiro becoming

Prime Minister of Portugal 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 Ass ...

, but lost the presidential election of 1980 to the independent candidate

António Ramalho Eanes António dos Santos Ramalho Eanes (born 25 January 1935) is a Portuguese general and politician who was the 16th president of Portugal from 1976 to 1986. Background Born at Alcains, Castelo Branco, he is the son of Manuel dos Santos Eanes, ...

. After the death of Sá Carneiro on 4 December 1980, the coalition was unable to find a leader with his charisma. Francisco Pinto Balsemão, the incoming PSD leader, became Prime Minister, but was unable to consolidate the support enjoyed by his predecessor. After its defeat in the 1982 local elections, it was disbanded in 1983. The name was revived for a similar alliance between the PSD, CDS-PP, and PPM ahead of the 2024 legislative election.

Members of the Democratic Alliance

(PPD/PSD) * Democratic and Social Centre (CDS) * People's Monarchist Party (PPM) * The Reformers

Leaders

* Francisco Sá Carneiro : 1979 – 1980 *

Diogo Freitas do Amaral Diogo Pinto de Freitas do Amaral (; 21 July 1941 – 3 October 2019) was a Portuguese politician and law professor. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 10 January 1980 to 12 January 1981 and from 12 March 2005 to 3 July 2006. He also serv ...

(''interim'') : 1980 – 1981 * Francisco Pinto Balsemão : 1981 – 1983

Election results

Assembly of the Republic

Presidential elections

Local elections

Between 1979 and 1983

Second Democratic Alliance

After the 2022 legislative election and for the first time in history, CDS–PP failed to win any seats and was wiped out of parliament. In December 2023,

Luís Montenegro Luís Filipe Montenegro Cardoso de Morais Esteves (; born 16 February 1973) is a Portuguese politician and lawyer serving as the prime minister of Portugal since April 2024. He is the president of the Social Democratic Party (Portugal), Social De ...

and Nuno Melo announced a coalition for the 2024 legislative and

European Parliament elections Elections to the European Parliament take place every five years by Universal suffrage, universal adult suffrage; with more than 400 million people eligible to vote, they are the second largest democratic elections in the world after Electio ...

, including the

(PPD/PSD), the CDS – People's Party (CDS–PP) and some independent politicians under the name ''Democratic Alliance'' (AD). At first, the People's Monarchist Party (PPM) refused to join the alliance, citing the "weakness" and "lack of vision" of its leaders, but they later went back with their position and joined the coalition. The agreement for the coalition was signed on 7 January 2024 between

, Nuno Melo and Gonçalo da Câmara Pereira, with Miguel Guimarães representing the independents that are also present in the coalition. This coalition granted CDS–PP two easily eligible seats and four potentially eligible seats, while it also granted one possibly eligible seat to the PPM. The coalition was also revived for the 2024 Azorean regional election.

Assembly of the Republic

Presidential elections

Local elections

After 1983 (Only in contests where PSD, CDS-PP and PPM ran in a joint coalition.)

Notes

References

External links

Aliança Democrática - Comissão Nacional de Eleições
{{Authority control CDS – People's Party Conservative parties in Portugal Defunct political party alliances in Portugal Political parties established in 1979 Political parties disestablished in 1983 1979 establishments in Portugal 1983 disestablishments in Portugal Social Democratic Party (Portugal)