Socialist Party (Portugal) - Definition and Overview

The Socialist Party (Portuguese: Partido Socialista) is a political party of Portugal. It was founded on April 19, 1973 in the German city of Bad Munstereifel, by militants of the Portuguese Socialist Action (Portuguese: Acção Socialista Portuguesa).

The President of Portugal, Jorge Sampaio is a member of the party. The current Prime Minister, Pedro Santana Lopes is the leader of a rightist coalition government excluding it. The current leader of the party is José Sócrates who won a bid in early October 2004 for the succession of Ferro Rodrigues as Secretary-General of the party. Other candidates for the post were Manuel Alegre and João Soares in a vote by party members.

It is a member of the Socialist International and the Party of European Socialists, and has 12 members in the European Parliament.

List of important people

Secretary-Generals

• Mário Soares: 1973 - 1986
• Almeida Santos (interin): 1986
• Vitor Constâncio: 1986 - 1989
• Jorge Sampaio: 1989 - 1992
• António Guterres: 1992 - 2002
• Ferro Rodrigues: 2002 - 2004
• José Sócrates: 2004 -

The last Congress, where Sócrates was formally apointed party leader, was held in November 2004.

Prime Ministers

• Mário Soares : 1976 - 1978, 1983 - 1985
• António Guterres : 1995 - 2002

Presidents of the Republic

• Mário Soares : 1986 - 1996
• Jorge Sampaio : 1996 -

See also

Politics of Portugal, List of political parties in Portugal, Socialist Party.

External links

• Official Website (http://www.ps.pt) (in Portuguese)
• Socialist Internacional (http://www.socialistinternational.org)
• Party of European Socialists (http://www.pes.org/)