José Manuel Coelho

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Mata and the second or paternal family name is Vieira Coelho.

José Manuel da Mata Vieira Coelho (born 22 July 1952) is a Portuguese politician. He was a member of the Portuguese Communist Party until 1999, and still calls himself a communist "who evolved".^[1] He was a substitute deputy of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira for the New Democracy Party, taking office in 2008. He became famous for the incident in which he showed a Nazi flag to the assembly as a protest against the Social Democratic Party refusing to commemorate the Carnation Revolution,^[2] among several other episodes as well.^[3]

José Manuel Coelho
Member of the Legislative Assembly of Madeira
In office 23 April 2008 – 2 May 2018
Personal details
Born	José Manuel da Mata Vieira Coelho (1952-07-22) 22 July 1952 (age 72) Gaula, Santa Cruz, Madeira, Portugal
Political party	Portuguese Labour Party (2011–present)
Other political affiliations	Portuguese Communist Party (1977–2007) New Democracy Party (2007–2011)
Children	2
Profession	Construction worker

Coelho was the New Democracy's candidate to the presidency in the 2011 election.^[4] He won 4.5% of the vote, coming fifth, which was considerably better than expected or forecast by pre-election polling. In Madeira, Coelho reached second place, with 39% of the votes.

On 12 March 2011, he joined the Portuguese Labour Party (PTP),^[5] of which he became the vice-president.^[6] He was a candidate for the 2011 legislative election but, as the PTP only got 0.3% of the vote, he failed to achieve his election in the constituency of Madeira, having been unsuccessful once again in 2015.

In February 2017, José Manuel Coelho asked for political asylum in the Principality of Pontinha, which was granted by D. Renato Barros I.^[7]

Electoral results

2011 Portuguese presidential election

Main article: 2011 Portuguese presidential election § Results

José Manuel Coelho finished fifth with 189,918 votes (4.51%).^[8]

References

1. Maria Teresa Oliveira (8 January 2011). Política - 'Andam a arranjar tachos até para as amantes'. Sol. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
2. Staff writer (5 November 2008). "Deputado do PND exibe bandeira nazi e chama "fascistas" aos sociais-democratas". expresso.pt (in Portuguese). Lisbon: Expresso. Archived from the original (Online) on 18 May 2017. Retrieved 26 October 2017.
3. "José Manuel Coelho: "Excessos necessários" / Pedro Fernandes / 5 Para a Meia-Noite" (Video) (in Portuguese). 5 Para a Meia-Noite. 11 May 2012 – via YouTube.
4. Lília Bernardes (29 December 2010). "José Manuel Coelho é o novo candidato à Presidência". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
5. Staff writer (12 March 2011). "PCP e Bloco de Esquerda serão os meus aliados preferenciais – José Manuel Coelho". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 28 September 2011. Retrieved 24 June 2011.
6. Staff writer (30 April 2011). "José Manuel Coelho quer "varrer deputados corruptos" da AR". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 24 June 2011.
7. Lisbon: Diário de Notícias (6 February 2017). "Vídeo mostra como Coelho pediu asilo político ao principado da Pontinha para escapar à prisão" (in Portuguese). Funchal: Diário de Notícias. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
8. Comissão Nacional de Eleições Archived 29 July 2017 at the Wayback Machine (2011)