1989 Portuguese local elections

Local elections were held in Portugal on 17 December 1989. The elections consisted of three separate elections in the 305 Portuguese municipalities, the election for the Municipal Chambers, whose winner is automatically elected mayor, similar to first-past-the-post (FPTP), another election for the Municipal Assembly and a last one for the lower-level Parish Assembly, whose winner is elected parish president. This last was held separately in the more than 4,200 parishes around the country.

1989 Portuguese local elections

← 1985 17 December 1989 1993 →
All 305 Portuguese municipalities and 4,260 Portuguese Parishes All 2,002 local government councils
Turnout	60.9% 2.1 pp
First party Second party   Leader Jorge Sampaio Aníbal Cavaco Silva Party PS PSD Last election 79 mayors, 27.4% 149 mayors, 34.2% Popular vote 1,815,155[1] 1,747,406[2] Percentage 36.8% 35.4% Swing 9.4 pp 1.2 pp Mayors 120[3] 114[4] Mayors +/– 41 35 Councillors 753[5] 793[6] Councillors +/– 179 26   Third party Fourth party   Leader Álvaro Cunhal Diogo Freitas do Amaral Party PCP CDS Alliance CDU Last election 47 mayors, 19.4% 27 mayors, 9.8% Popular vote 656,719 452,079[7] Percentage 13.3% 9.2% Swing 6.1 pp 0.3 pp Mayors 50 20 Mayors +/– 3 7 Councillors 258 180[8] Councillors +/– 45 42

For the first time since democracy was restored, the center-left/left-wing parties won a nationwide local election. The Socialist Party won, also for the 1st time, the status of largest local party, a title the Socialists would hold on until 2001, and gained control in many big cities across the country, like Lisbon and Porto.^[9] In Lisbon, the PS leader, Jorge Sampaio, in a coalition with CDU, defeated the PSD/CDS candidate, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, by a 49 to 42 percent margin. The Socialists had a net gain of 41 cities, and won important cities like Guimarães, Coimbra, Faro and Vila Nova de Gaia.

The Social Democrats (PSD), were the big losers of the elections. The party lost its status as the largest local party and suffered heavy losses across the country, particularly in the big cities. The PSD lost a total of 35 cities, although was able to increase its share of the vote to 35 percent. The results contrast with the landslide election victory the PSD won in the 1987 general elections. Many of Cavaco Silva's government policies such as privatizations, which was creating some unemployment, or the tensions with some workers unions, like the Police protests in April 1989,^[10] may have had a negative effect on the PSD chances.

The Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU) gained 3 cities, compared with 1985, and maintained their control in the Alentejo area. Nonetheless, the Communist/Green coalition suffered a big drop in its share of vote, dropping 6 points to around 13 percent. The CDU was able to hold on to their bastions of Beja, Évora and Almada.

The Democratic and Social Centre (CDS), like PSD, had a very poor showing winning 20 cities, a drop of 7 cities. The party lost some important cities to either the PS or PSD, such as Póvoa de Varzim, Leiria and Viseu. At the same time, CDS made several coalitions with the PS in Azores and Madeira, and, together, the PS/CDS coalition won a combined total of 3 cities. Other smaller parties also made gains, like the UDP which gained Machico, Madeira islands, from the PSD

Turnout in these elections was lower compared with 4 years ago, with 60.9 percent of the electorate casting a ballot.

Parties

The main political forces involved in the election were:

• Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)¹, ²
• Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU)¹
• Socialist Party (PS)¹
• Social Democratic Party (PSD) ²

¹ The PS formed coalitions with CDS, CDU and MDP/CDE in several municipalities.
² The PS formed coalitions with CDS and PPM in some municipalities.

Results

Municipal Councils

National summary of votes and seats

Summary of the 17 December 1989 Municipal Councils elections results

Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Candidacies	Councillors		Mayors
						Total	±	Total	±
	Socialist	1,599,483	32.40	5.0		728	154	116	37
	Social Democratic	1,554,245	31.49	2.5		780	39	113	36
	Democratic Unity Coalition	633,693	12.84	6.6		253	50	50	3
	Democratic and Social Centre	451,126	9.14	0.6		179	43	20	7
	PSD / CDS / PPM	193,161	3.91	—		13	—	1	—
	PS / CDU / MDP/CDE	180,760	3.66	—		9	—	1	—
	Democratic Renewal	38,565	0.78	4.0		4	35	0	3
	PS / CDS	34,912	0.71	—		15	—	3	—
	CDU / PRD	23,026	0.47	—		5	—	0	—
	Portuguese Workers' Communist	21,819	0.44	0.2		0	0	0	0
	People's Democratic Union	15,876	0.32	0.3		4	1	1	1
	Portuguese Democratic Movement	11,384	0.23	—		1	—	0	—
	Christian Democratic	7,189	0.15	0.1		1	1	0	0
	MDP/CDE / PRD	3,607	0.07	—		7	—	0	—
	People's Monarchist	2,768	0.06	0.4		1	3	0	0
	Left Revolutionary Front	2,424	0.05	—		0	—	0	—
	CDS / PS	953	0.02	—		1	—	0	—
	PRD / MDP/CDE	710	0.01	—		1	—	0	—
	Democratic Party of the Atlantic	349	0.01	—		0	—	0	—
Total valid		4,765,968	96.55	0.4	—	2,002	27	305	0
Blank ballots		90,114	1.83	0.3
Invalid ballots		80,328	1.63	0.1
Total		4,936,410	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		8,110,493	60.86	2.1
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições Archived 2014-07-12 at the Wayback Machine

Municipality map

Most voted parties or coalitions in each Municipality. Municipalities won by:
■ - PSD: 113
■ - PS: 116
■ - CDU: 50
■ - CDS: 20
■ - UDP: 1
■ - PSD coalitions: 1
■ - PS coalitions: 4

City control

The following table lists party control in all district capitals, highlighted in bold, as well as in municipalities above 100,000 inhabitants. Population estimates from the 1981 Census.^[11]

Municipality	Population	Previous control		New control
Almada	147,690		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)
Amadora	163,878		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)
Aveiro	60,284		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)
Barcelos	103,773		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Beja	38,246		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)
Braga	125,472		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Bragança	35,380		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Cascais	141,498		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Castelo Branco	54,908		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Coimbra	138,930		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Socialist Party (PS)
Évora	51,572		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)
Faro	45,109		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Socialist Party (PS)
Funchal	112,746		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Gondomar	130,751		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Guarda	40,360		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Guimarães	146,959		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Socialist Party (PS)
Leiria	96,517		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Lisbon	807,937		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		PS / CDU / MDP/CDE
Loures	276,467		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)		Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU)
Matosinhos	136,498		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Oeiras	149,328		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Ponta Delgada	63,804		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		PS / CDS
Portalegre	27,313		Socialist Party (PS)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Porto	327,368		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Socialist Party (PS)
Santarém	62,896		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Santa Maria da Feira	109,531		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Setúbal	98,366		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Sintra	226,428		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		PSD / CDS / PPM
Viana do Castelo	81,009		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Vila Nova de Famalicão	106,508		Socialist Party (PS)		Socialist Party (PS)
Vila Nova de Gaia	226,331		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Socialist Party (PS)
Vila Real	47,020		Social Democratic Party (PSD)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)
Viseu	83,261		Democratic and Social Centre (CDS)		Social Democratic Party (PSD)

Municipal Assemblies

National summary of votes and seats

Summary of the 17 December 1989 Municipal Assemblies elections results

Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Candidacies	Mandates
						Total	±
	Socialist	1,574,632	31.92	7.6		2,429	633
	Social Democratic	1,544,877	31.32	1.7		2,573	98
	Democratic Unity Coalition	657,499	13.33	7.0		849	207
	Democratic and Social Centre	443,731	9.00	7.2		712	303
	PSD / CDS / PPM	195,249	3.96	—		41	—
	PS / CDU / MDP/CDE	182,237	3.69	—		28	—
	Democratic Renewal	41,085	0.83	4.4		26	247
	PS / CDS	34,043	0.69	—		41	—
	CDU / PRD	23,456	0.48	—		18	—
	People's Democratic Union	17,706	0.36	0.3		14	0
	Portuguese Workers' Communist	11,029	0.22	0.1		0	0
	Portuguese Democratic Movement	9,239	0.19	—		6	—
	Christian Democratic	4,250	0.09	0.0		3	1
	MDP/CDE / PRD	2,762	0.06	—		4	—
	People's Monarchist	1,859	0.04	0.3		2	5
	Democratic Party of the Atlantic	1,355	0.03	—		1	—
	CDS / PS	982	0.02	—		4	—
	PRD / MDP/CDE	505	0.01	—		2	—
Total valid		4,722,468	96.22	0.4	—	6,753	81
Blank ballots		104,261	2.12	0.2
Invalid ballots		81,410	1.66	0.2
Total		4,908,139	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		8,211,821	59.77	3.4
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições Archived 2017-12-06 at the Wayback Machine

Parish Assemblies

National summary of votes and seats

Summary of the 17 December 1989 Parish Assemblies elections results

Parties		Votes	%	±pp swing	Candidacies	Mandates		Presidents
						Total	±	Total	±
	Social Democratic	1,556,509	31.69	1.2		13,237	119
	Socialist	1,522,653	31.00	4.0		11,188	2,149
	Democratic Unity Coalition	668,608	13.61	6.6		2,925	751
	Democratic and Social Centre	397,164	8.09	2.4		3,444	1,087
	PSD / CDS / PPM	189,335	3.86	—		403	—		—
	PS / CDU / MDP/CDE	183,404	3.73	—		392	—		—
	Independents	91,533	1.86	0.5		1,009	212
	PS / CDS	32,109	0.65	—		181	—		—
	Democratic Renewal	29,684	0.60	2.8		58	668
	People's Democratic Union	24,324	0.50	0.1		30	4
	CDU / PRD	22,713	0.46	—		95	—		—
	Portuguese Democratic Movement	7,610	0.15	—		13	—
	Portuguese Workers' Communist	4,576	0.09	0.0		0	0
	People's Monarchist	1,247	0.03	0.0		9	15
	Democratic Party of the Atlantic	1,162	0.02	—		3	—		—
	Christian Democratic	1,068	0.02	0.0		7	3
	MDP/CDE / PRD	952	0.02	—		5	—		—
	PRD / MDP/CDE	213	0.00	—		1	—		—
Total valid		4,731,554	96.41	0.2	—	33,000	1,059
Blank ballots		90,606	1.85	0.0
Invalid ballots		85,834	1.75	0.2
Total		4,907,994	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		8,882,933	55.25	8.3
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições Archived 2019-10-01 at the Wayback Machine

See also

• Politics of Portugal
• List of political parties in Portugal
• Elections in Portugal

References

1. Sum of votes between PS-only lists and lists with other parties.
2. Sum of votes between PSD-only lists and lists with other parties.
3. Number of municipalities won between PS-only lists and lists with other parties. PS-only lists: 116; PS-coalition lists: 4.
4. Number of municipalities won between PSD-only lists and lists with other parties. PSD-only lists: 113; PSD-coalition lists: 1.
5. Sum of councillors between PS-only lists and lists with other parties.
6. Sum of councillors between PSD-only lists and lists with other parties.
7. Sum of votes between CDS-only lists and lists with other parties.
8. Sum of councillors between CDS-only lists and lists with other parties.
9. "As cores políticas que pintam o mapa do poder local de 1976 a 2013". Jornal de Negócios (in Portuguese). 2017.
10. ""Secos e Molhados" na primeira pessoa: (Re)viver a História". Expresso (in Portuguese). 2016.
11. "Instituto Nacional de Estatística (Recenseamentos Gerais da População)". www.ine.pt (in Portuguese). Statistics Portugal. Retrieved 17 July 2021.

External links

• Official results site, Portuguese Justice Ministry
• Portuguese Electoral Commission