1999 European Parliament election in Portugal
13 June 1999
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25 seats to the European Parliament | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Turnout | 39.9% 4.4 pp | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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An election of MEP representing Portugal constituency for the 1999–2004 term of the European Parliament was held on 13 June. It was part of the wider 1999 European election.
In the runner up for the 1999 general elections, the Socialist Party (PS) won the EU elections by a landslide. The party, headed by its founder and former President of the Republic and Prime Minister Mário Soares, scored a convincing victory over the Social Democrats. The PS increased its share of vote more than 8 percent and won 2 more seats compared with 1994. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) had a bad performance, but was able to hold on to its 9 seats, but, at the same time, the party saw their share of vote drop to 31 percent, around 3 points lower than in 1994.
The Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU) performed quite well, although it dropped compared with 1994. The Communist/Green alliance won more than 10 percent of the votes, a drop of around 1 point, and lost one seat but was able to reclaim the title of 3rd largest party. The People's Party (CDS–PP), was the party that suffered the most. The People's Party dropped to fourth place and had the biggest fall in terms of share of the vote, winning just 8 percent of the vote, a fall of more than 4 points. They also lost one seat compared to 1994.
Turnout increased compared with 1994, with 39.9 percent of voters casting a ballot.
Electoral system
The voting method used, for the election of European members of parliament, is by proportional representation using the d'Hondt method, which is known to benefit leading parties. In the 1999 EU elections, Portugal had 25 seats to be filled. Deputies are elected in a single constituency, corresponding to the entire national territory.
Parties and candidates
The major parties that partook in the election, and their EP list leaders, were:[1]
- Left Bloc (BE), Miguel Portas
- Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU), Ilda Figueiredo
- People's Party (CDS–PP), Paulo Portas
- Earth Party (MPT), Paulo Trancoso
- Portuguese Workers' Communist Party (PCTP/MRPP), António Garcia Pereira
- Socialist Party (PS), Mário Soares
- Social Democratic Party (PSD), José Pacheco Pereira
- Workers' Party of Socialist Unity (POUS), Carmelinda Pereira
Opinion polling
The following table shows the opinion polls of voting intention of the Portuguese voters before the election. Those parties that are listed were represented in the EU parliament (1994–1999). Included is also the result of the Portuguese EP elections in 1994 and 1999 for reference.
Note, until 2000, the publication of opinion polls in the last week of the campaign was forbidden.
| Polling firm/Link | Date Released | PS | O | Lead | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 EP election | 13 Jun 1994 | 43.1 12 |
31.1 9 |
8.2 2 |
10.3 2 |
7.3 0 |
12.0 |
| Público | 6 Jun 1999 | 48.3 | 31.4 | N/a | N/a | 20.3 | 16.9 |
| Euroexpansão | 4 Jun 1999 | 54.6 | 30.8 | N/a | N/a | 14.6 | 23.8 |
| Diário de Notícias | 2 Jun 1999 | 52.2 | 35.9 | N/a | N/a | 11.9 | 16.3 |
| Semanário | 2 Jun 1999 | 49.7 | 33.6 | N/a | N/a | 16.7 | 16.1 |
| Visão | 2 Jun 1999 | 44 | 33 | N/a | N/a | 23 | 11.0 |
| Visão | 20 May 1999 | 45 | 40 | N/a | N/a | 15 | 5 |
| 1994 EP election | 12 Jun 1994 | 34.9 10 |
34.4 9 |
12.5 3 |
11.2 3 |
7.1 0 |
0.5 |
Results
| Party and European Parliament group | Votes | % | +/– | Seats | +/– | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Socialist Party | PES | 1,493,146 | 43.07 | +8.20 | 12 | +2 | ||
| Social Democratic Party | EPP–ED | 1,078,528 | 31.11 | –3.28 | 9 | 0 | ||
| Unitary Democratic Coalition | GUE/NGL | 357,671 | 10.32 | –0.87 | 2 | –1 | ||
| CDS – People's Party | UFE | 283,067 | 8.16 | –4.29 | 2 | –1 | ||
| Left Bloc | NI | 61,920 | 1.79 | New | 0 | New | ||
| Portuguese Workers' Communist Party | NI | 30,446 | 0.88 | +0.09 | 0 | 0 | ||
| People's Monarchist Party | NI | 16,182 | 0.47 | +0.20 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Earth Party | ELDR | 13,924 | 0.40 | –0.03 | 0 | 0 | ||
| National Solidarity Party | NI | 8,413 | 0.24 | –0.13 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Workers' Party of Socialist Unity | NI | 5,565 | 0.16 | +0.06 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Democratic Party of the Atlantic | NI | 5,089 | 0.15 | –0.08 | 0 | 0 | ||
| Total | 3,353,951 | 100.00 | – | 25 | 0 | |||
| Valid votes | 3,353,951 | 96.74 | –0.16 | |||||
| Invalid votes | 49,853 | 1.44 | –0.05 | |||||
| Blank votes | 63,281 | 1.83 | +0.22 | |||||
| Total votes | 3,467,085 | 100.00 | – | |||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 8,681,854 | 39.93 | +4.39 | |||||
| Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições | ||||||||
Distribution by European group
| Groups | Parties | Seats | Total | % | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Party of European Socialists (PES) |
|
12 | 12 | 48.00 | |
| European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP–ED) |
|
9 | 9 | 36.00 | |
| European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) | 2 | 2 | 8.00 | ||
| Union for Europe (UFE) |
|
2 | 2 | 8.00 | |
| Total | 25 | 25 | 100.00 | ||
Maps
-
-
Strongest party by municipality.
See also
- Politics of Portugal
- List of political parties in Portugal
- Elections in Portugal
- European Parliament
References
- ^ Comissão Nacional de Eleições - Deputados
- ^ "Elecciones al Parlamento Europeo: Resultados por países 1979 - 2014". historiaelectoral.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 28 November 2017.