People's Socialist Front
People's Socialist Front Frente Socialista Popular | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Manuel Serra |
| Founded | 1974 |
| Dissolved | 7 July 2004 |
| Split from | Socialist Party |
| Ideology | Socialism |
| Political position | Left-wing |
The People's Socialist Front or Popular Socialist Front (Portuguese: Frente Socialista Popular, FSP) was a socialist political party in Portugal, founded in 1974. It was a breakaway group from the Socialist Party.[1]
History
From December 14-16, 1974, shortly after the Carnation Revolution, the Socialist Party saw hardline militant Marxist elements attempt to stage a takeover of the party at their general congress but where defeated by the then Foreign Minister, Mário Soares who instead advocated for a more moderate line, as "the vast majority of the new candidates came into the party after [the Carnation Revolution]."[2] The militants where led by Manuel Serra, a former member of the Popular Socialist Movement who spent years in jail during the Estado Novo.[2] Serra had proposed an alternative list of more hard-line candidates, instead of those approved by the party, and forced a vote on which list would be submitted to the electoral commission at the party's general congress that would vote in favor of Soares' candidates.[2] Shortly after Serra and his supporters would break from the Socialist party and form the Popular Socialist Front.[3]
Under Serra's leadership, the FSP took place in violent demonstrations, including riots in Setúbal.[4]
In the 1975 Constituent Assembly election, the FSP received less than 5% of the vote and won zero seats.[5]
The FSP ran candidates in the 1976 legislative election,[1] and participated in the 1976 local election in coalition with the Portuguese Communist Party and the Portuguese Democratic Movement inside the Electoral Front United People.
On 7 July 2004, after several years of inactivity, the party was declared extinct by the Portuguese Constitutional Court.
References
- ^ a b "Left at the Hustings". The Guardian. 23 April 1976. p. 3. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ a b c "Soares fights off militants in party shift". The Guardian. 17 December 1974. p. 4. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ "Turmoil faces Portugal as Parties Clash". The Observer. 4 May 1975. p. 6. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ "Coming to the Aid of the Party". The Guardian. 24 March 1975. p. 3. Retrieved 5 January 2021.
- ^ "The Vote against Rhetoric". The Guardian. 28 April 1975. p. 11. Retrieved 5 January 2021.