Social Democratic Party
Partido Social Democrata |
|
---|---|
Abbreviation | PPD/PSD |
President | Pedro Passos Coelho |
Secretary-General | José Matos Rosa |
Founder | Francisco Sá Carneiro |
Founded | 6 May 1974 |
Legalized | 17 January 1975 |
Newspaper | Povo Livre |
Youth wing | Social Democratic Youth |
Membership (2017) | 122,886 |
Ideology | Liberal conservatism |
Political position | Centre-right |
European affiliation | European People's Party |
International affiliation | Centrist Democrat International |
European Parliament group | European People's Party |
Colours | Orange |
Assembly of the Republic |
89 / 230
|
European Parliament |
6 / 21
|
Regional parliaments |
43 / 104
|
Local government |
729 / 2,074
|
Website | |
www |
|
The Social Democratic Party (Portuguese: Partido Social Democrata pronounced [pɐɾˈtiðu susiˈaɫ dɨmuˈkɾatɐ]) is a liberal-conservative and liberalpolitical party in Portugal. It is commonly known by its colloquial initials, PSD; on ballot papers, its initials appear as its official form PPD/PSD, with the first three letters coming from the party's original name.
The party was founded as the Democratic Peoples' Party (Partido Popular Democrata, PPD) in 1974, two weeks after the Carnation Revolution, and in 1976 it changed its name to the Social Democratic Party (Partido Social Democrata). In 1979, it allied with centre-right parties to form the Democratic Alliance, and won that year's election. After the 1983 election, the party formed a grand coalition with the Socialist Party (PS), known as the Central Bloc, before winning the election under new leader Aníbal Cavaco Silva in 1985. Cavaco Silva served as Prime Minister for ten years, instituting major economic liberalisation and winning two landslide victories. After he stepped down, the PSD lost the 1995 election. The party was returned to power under José Manuel Durão Barroso in 2002, but was defeated in the 2005 election. The current leader, Pedro Passos Coelho, was elected on 26 March 2010, and became Prime Minister about a year later. The party won a plurality in the 2015 legislative election, winning 107 seats in Assembly of the Republic in alliance with the People's Party (CDS-PP) but being unable to form a government.