General Information
At stake in this election:
- 230 seats in the Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da Republica)
Description of government structure:
- Chief of State: President Jorge Fernando Branco de SAMPAIO
- Head of Government: Prime Minister Pedro SANTANA LOPES **
- Assembly: Portugal has a unicameral Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da Republica) with 230 seats.
** Prime Minister Pedro SANTANA LOPES and his government resigned 11 December 2004, but stayed in a caretaker capacity until the February 2005 elections.
Description of electoral system:
- The President is elected by absolute majority vote through a two-round system to serve a 5-year term.
- The Prime Minister is appointed by the president.
- In the Assembly of the Republic (Assembleia da Republica) 230 members are elected through a closed-list proportional representation system to serve 4-year terms.***
*** There are 22 multi-member districts. Seats are allocated using the d'Hondt method.
Main parties in the electoral race:
- Party: Socialist Party / (PS)
- Leader: Jose SOCRATES
- Seats won in this election: 120
- Seats won in last election: 96
- Party: Social Democratic Party / (PSD)
- Leader: Pedro Miguel SANTANA LOPES
- Seats won in this election: 72
- Seats won in last election: 150
- Party: Portuguese Communist Party / (PCP)
- Leader: Jeronimo de SOUSA
- Seats won in this election: 14
- Seats won in last election: 12
- Party: Popular Party (PP)
- Leader: Paulo PORTAS
- Seats won in this election: 12
- Seats won in last election: 14
- Party: Left Bloc / (B.E.)
- Leader: Franciso LOUCA
- Seats won in this election: 8
- Seats won in last election: 3
Population and number of registered voters:
- Population: 10,503,330 (2005)
- Registered Voters: 8,944,508 (2005)
Gender Data:
· Female Population: 5,422,789 (2005)
· Is Portugal a signatory to CEDAW: Yes (24 April 1980)
· Has Portugal ratified CEDAW: Yes (30 July 1980)
· Gender Quota: Yes
· Female candidates in this election: Yes
· Number of Female Parliamentarians: 49 (following the 2005 elections)
· Human Development Index Position: 43 (2014)
· Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) Categorization: N/A
Disability Data:
· Is Portugal a signatory to CRPD: Yes (30 March 2007)
· Has Portugal ratified CRPD: Yes (23 September 2009)
· Population with a disability: 1,575,499 (est.)