Coalition PSD/CDS

PSD and CDS were founded after the 1974 Revolution that overthrew the Estado Novo dictatorship.

Both parties have had a close affinity for the most part of their existence. Previous to any electoral alliance, they both endorsed the same presidential candidate in the first democratic presidential election of 1976, Ramalho Eanes, who also had the backing of the Socialist Party.

The first time the two parties were together in a coalition was in the general and local elections of 1979, under the Democratic Alliance banner, albeit along with the People's Monarchist Party and the {{ill|Reformers (Portuguese political group)|lt=Reformers|pt|Movimento dos Reformadores}}, a small group of Socialist Party dissidents. This first continuous coalition lasted until 1983 and run a total of two general elections (1979 and 1980) and two local elections (1979 and 1982). Both parties endorsed again a single candidate in the 1980 and 1986 presidential elections.

In Portugal, presidential elections aren't formally partisan, although all major parties usually endorse a candidate from their ranks. In the 1991 presidential elections, PSD backed former Socialist Prime Minister Mário Soares, while CDS endorsed its own former minister Basílio Horta. Since 1996, both parties have always endorsed the same candidate (former PSD Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva in 1996, 2006 and 2011, and former PSD ministers Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral in 2001 and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in 2016 and 2021). The candidates supported by PSD and CDS have won since 2006.

The coalition with just the two parties appeared formally for the first time in the 1997 local elections and, at the local level, it has been expanded to more municipalities in each following election till today (2001, 2005, 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2021), holding, as of 2021, 31 mayors out of 308 municipalities in the country.

The coalition was on the ballot in the 2004 Azores regional election, as Coalition Azores ({{langx|pt|Coligação Açores}}, CA), but failed to win that election. The coalition was also on the ballot in the 2023 Madeira regional election, as We are Madeira ({{langx|pt|Somos Madeira}}, SM). The coalition has been on the ballot in two European Parliament elections, 2004 as Forward Portugal ({{langx|pt|Força Portugal}}, FP), and 2014 as Portugal Alliance ({{langx|pt|Aliança Portugal}}, AP).

On elections for the Assembly of the Republic, the two-party coalition was only tried once, in the 2015 legislative election, as Portugal Ahead ({{langx|pt|Portugal à Frente}}, PàF), and it polled ahead with almost 39% of the votes, but was unable to remain in power as it didn't gain enough seats for a majority.

Both parties are running again along with PPM as the Democratic Alliance for the 2024 European and general elections, except in Madeira's constituency in the general, where only PSD and CDS are running together as First Madeira.

{{multiple image

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| image1 = Logo Portugal à Frente.svg

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| caption1 = Logo of the Portugal Ahead (PáF) coalition.

| image2 = Bandeira da coligação Portugal à Frente.png

| width2 = 200

| caption2 = Flag of the Portugal Ahead (PáF) coalition.

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For the 2015 legislative election, PSD and CDS-PP ran under a coalition with the name Portugal Ahead. In the legislative election on 5 October 2015, the PSD/CDS-PP joint list received 36.9% of the vote and returned 102 seats in the Assembly of the Republic, with the PSD electing 5 deputies on standalone lists in Madeira and Azores.{{Cite web |url=http://www.legislativas2015.mai.gov.pt/ |title=Legislativas 2015 - Resultados Globais |access-date=2015-10-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016163911/http://www.legislativas2015.mai.gov.pt/ |archive-date=2015-10-16 |url-status=dead }}

Although the coalition won the elections, and surprised many analysts and pundits, the left parties together had a majority in Parliament, and opted to negotiate a confidence-and-supply agreement, thus refusing to allow for a second PSD/CDS-PP cabinet. For the first time in Portuguese democracy the Socialist Party, the second most voted political force in the elections, negotiated with the BE, the PCP and the PEV a formation of a new government.

Following the fall of the short-lived 20th Constitutional Government, the "natural" extinction of the coalition was declared on 16 December 2015 by Passos Coelho: "No formal act is necessary to put an end to it".(16 December 2015) [http://www.tsf.pt/politica/interior/passos-coelho-diz-que-nao-e-preciso-coligacao-na-oposicao-4940024.html Passos Coelho diz que a coligação "acabou"] TSF. Retrieved 25 December 2015.(16 December 2015) [https://expresso.sapo.pt/politica/2015-12-16-Passos-Coligacao-com-CDS-acabou Passos: Coligação com CDS acabou] Expresso. Retrieved 25 December 2015.

{{reflist|group=note}}

After the Portugal Ahead coalition dissolution, both PSD and CDS contested a few constituencies in a joint coalition: In 2022, PSD and CDS ran in a joint coalition in Madeira called Madeira First, and in Azores both parties were joined with PPM in a coalition called Democratic Alliance. In 2024, the PSD, CDS and PPM ran in a joint coalition in all constituencies except Madeira, which repeated the PSD-CDS Madeira First coalition.

{{Main article|Força Portugal}}

As Forward Portugal (Força Portugal, FP)

An alliance was formed as the Portugal Alliance (Aliança Portugal) for the 2014 European Parliament election, in which the alliance won 27.7% of the popular vote and 7 of Portugal's 21 seats in the European Parliament, sitting with the European People's Party Group.{{Cite web |url=http://www.results-elections2014.eu/en/country-results-pt-2014.html |title=Results by country: Portugal |work=Results of the 2014 European elections |publisher=European Parliament |accessdate=28 May 2014}}

As Portugal Alliance (Aliança Portugal, AP)

As Azores Coalition (Coligação Açores, CA)

As We are Madeira (Somos Madeira, SM)

Only in contests where PSD and CDS-PP ran in a joint coalition.

The table below shows the electoral results{{cite web |title=Resultados Eleitorais |url=https://www.sg.mai.gov.pt/AdministracaoEleitoral/Resultadoseleitorais/Paginas/default.aspx |website=Secretaria-Geral do Ministério da Administração Interna |access-date=7 January 2024}} of presidential candidates who were endorsed by both parties, besides endorsements by other parties.

{{multiple image

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| image1 = Luis Montenegro at EPP Summit, 21 March, Brussels.jpg

| width1 = 140

| caption1 = Luís Montenegro, Incumbent PSD leader.

| image2 = EPP Political Assembly, 17-18 November, Lisbon (52505706862) (cropped).jpg

| width2 = 140

| caption2 = Nuno Melo, Incumbent CDS-PP leader.

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{{notelist

| refs =

{{efn

| name = Election 2015

| Minority government (2015); Opposition (2015–2019).

}}

{{efn

| name = Election 2024

| Minority government

}}

{{efn

| name = AD

| The Democratic Alliance includes the People's Monarchist Party.

}}

{{efn

| name = 2022 general

| PSD and CDS ran in coalition in only two constituencies: Azores (along with PPM) and Madeira (just the two). Nationwide, PPM only ran by itself in one constituency, Madeira, where it got 260 votes. These isolated PPM votes are not taken into account because they are not related to PSD or CDS candidacies.

}}

{{efn

| name = Madeira

| Coalition government Social Democratic Party-CDS–PP; Confidence & supply gov't: PSD/CDS-PP ⇐ (PAN).

}}

}}

• Democratic Alliance (Coalition PSD/CDS/PPM)

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.portugalafrente.pt/ Official website] (Portuguese)

Category:2014 establishments in Portugal

Category:2015 disestablishments in Portugal

Category:CDS – People's Party

Category:Defunct political party alliances in Portugal

Category:Political parties disestablished in 2015

Category:Political parties established in 2014

Category:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)