Election Name: | 1999 European Parliament election in Portugal |
Country: | Portugal |
Type: | Parliamentary |
Previous Election: | 1994 European Parliament election in Portugal |
Previous Year: | 1994 |
Next Election: | 2004 European Parliament election in Portugal |
Next Year: | 2004 |
Seats For Election: | 25 seats to the European Parliament |
Election Date: | 13 June 1999 |
Turnout: | 39.9% 4.4 pp |
Leader1: | Mário Soares |
Party1: | Socialist Party (Portugal) |
Alliance1: | Party of European Socialists |
Last Election1: | 10 seats, 34.9% |
Seats1: | 12 |
Seat Change1: | 2 |
Popular Vote1: | 1,493,146 |
Percentage1: | 43.1% |
Swing1: | 8.2 pp |
Leader2: | Pacheco Pereira |
Party2: | Social Democratic Party (Portugal) |
Alliance2: | European People's Party |
Last Election2: | 9 seats, 34.4% |
Seats2: | 9 |
Seat Change2: | 0 |
Popular Vote2: | 1,078,528 |
Percentage2: | 31.1% |
Swing2: | 3.3 pp |
Leader4: | Ilda Figueiredo |
Party4: | CDU |
Color4: | DA251E |
Alliance4: | European United Left–Nordic Green Left |
Last Election4: | 3 seats, 11.2% |
Seats4: | 2 |
Seat Change4: | 1 |
Popular Vote4: | 357,671 |
Percentage4: | 10.3% |
Swing4: | 0.9 pp |
Leader5: | Paulo Portas |
Party5: | CDS – People's Party |
Alliance5: | UFE |
Last Election5: | 3 seats, 12.5% |
Seats5: | 2 |
Seat Change5: | 1 |
Popular Vote5: | 283,067 |
Percentage5: | 8.2% |
Swing5: | 4.3 pp |
Map Size: | 200px |
An election of MEP representing Portugal constituency for the 1999–2004 term of the European Parliament was held on 13 June. It was part of the wider 1999 European election.
In the runner up for the 1999 general elections, the Socialist Party (PS) won the EU elections by a landslide. The party, headed by its founder and former President of the Republic and Prime Minister Mário Soares, scored a convincing victory over the Social Democrats. The PS increased its share of vote more than 8 percent and won 2 more seats compared with 1994. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) had a bad performance, but was able to hold on to its 9 seats, but, at the same time, the party saw their share of vote drop to 31 percent, around 3 points lower than in 1994.
The Democratic Unity Coalition (CDU) performed quite well, although it dropped compared with 1994. The Communist/Green alliance won more than 10 percent of the votes, a drop of around 1 point, and lost one seat but was able to reclaim the title of 3rd largest party. The People's Party (CDS–PP), was the party that suffered the most. The People's Party dropped to fourth place and had the biggest fall in terms of share of the vote, winning just 8 percent of the vote, a fall of more than 4 points. They also lost one seat compared to 1994.
Turnout increased compared with 1994, with 39.9 percent of voters casting a ballot.
The voting method used, for the election of European members of parliament, is by proportional representation using the d'Hondt method, which is known to benefit leading parties. In the 1999 EU elections, Portugal had 25 seats to be filled. Deputies are elected in a single constituency, corresponding to the entire national territory.
The major parties that partook in the election, and their EP list leaders, were:[1]
|-! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;" colspan=2 |National party! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;" |European
party! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;" |Main candidate! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Votes! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |%! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |+/–! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |Seats! style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" |+/–|- style="text-align:right;"| style="background-color: " width=5px|| style="text-align:left;" | Socialist Party (PS)| style="text-align:left;" | PES| style="text-align:left;" | Mário Soares| 1,493,146| 43.07| 8.20 ! 12| 2 |- style="text-align:right;"| style="background-color: " width=5px|| style="text-align:left;" | Social Democratic Party (PSD)| style="text-align:left;" | EPP| style="text-align:left;" | José Pacheco Pereira| 1,078,528| 31.11 | 3.28 ! 9| 0 |- style="text-align:right;"| style="background-color: " width=5px|| style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Democratic Unitarian Coalition (CDU)
• Communist Party (PCP)
• Ecologist Party (PEV)| style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | GUE/NGL| style="text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" | Ilda Figueiredo| style="vertical-align:top;" | 357,671| style="vertical-align:top;" | 10.32| style="vertical-align:top;" | 0.87 ! 2
2
0|
1
0 |- style="text-align:right;"| style="background-color: " width=5px|| style="text-align:left;" | People's Party (CDS–PP)| style="text-align:left;" | UFE| style="text-align:left;" | Paulo Portas| 283,067| 8.16 | 4.29 ! 2| 1 |- style="text-align:right;"| style="background-color: " width=5px|| style="text-align:left;" | Left Bloc (BE)| style="text-align:left;" | None| style="text-align:left;" | Miguel Portas| 61,920| 1.79 | new! 0| new|- align="right"| style="background-color: " width=5px|| style="text-align:left;" | Workers' Communist Party (PCTP/MRPP)| style="text-align:left;" | None| style="text-align:left;" | António Garcia Pereira| 30,446| 0.88| 0.09 ! 0| 0 |- align="right"| style="background-color: " width=5px|| align="left"| People's Monarchist Party (PPM)| align="left"| None| align="left"| -| 16,182| 0.45| 0.20 ! 0| 0 |- style="text-align:right;"| style="background-color: " width=5px|| align="left"| Earth Party (MPT)| align="left"| ELDR| align="left"| Paulo Trancoso| 13,924| 0.40| 0.03 ! 0| 0 |- align="right"| style="background-color:#000080" width=5px|| align="left"| National Solidarity Party (PSN)| align="left"| None | align="left"| -| 8,413| 0.24| 0.13 ! 0| 0 |- align="right"| style="background-color: " width=5px|| align="left"| Workers Party of Socialist Unity (POUS)| align="left"| None| align="left"| Carmelinda Pereira| 5,565| 0.16| 0.06 ! 0| 0 |- align="right"| style="background-color: " width=5px|| align="left"| Democratic Party of the Atlantic (PDA)| align="left"| None| align="left"| -| 5,089| 0.15| 0.08 ! 0| 0 |- align="right"|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"| style="text-align:right;" colspan="4" | Valid votes| 3,353,951| 96.74| colspan="3" rowspan="2" | |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"| style="text-align:right;" colspan="4" | Blank and invalid votes| 113,134| 3.26|- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"| style="text-align:right;" colspan="4" | Totals| 3,467,085| 100.00| —! style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|25| 0 |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9"| colspan="4" | Electorate (eligible voters) and voter turnout| 8,681,854| 39.93| 4.39 | colspan="2"| |-| style="text-align:left;" colspan="11" | Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições |}
Groups | Parties | Seats | Total | % | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Party of European Socialists (PES) | 12 | 12 | 48.00 | |||
European People's Party–European Democrats (EPP–ED) | 9 | 9 | 36.00 | |||
European United Left–Nordic Green Left (GUE/NGL) | 2 | 2 | 8.00 | |||
Union for Europe (UFE) | 2 | 2 | 8.00 | |||
Total | 25 | 25 | 100.00 |