The 2004 Portuguese Socialist Party leadership election was held on 25 and 26 September 2004. The leadership ballot was called after Socialist Party Secretary-General Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues resigned as leader of the PS, against the decision of President Jorge Sampaio to appoint Pedro Santana Lopes as prime minister, replacing José Durão Barroso.
The declared candidates included the former Minister of the Environment José Sócrates, historic Socialist deputy Manuel Alegre and former Mayor of Lisbon and son of former president Mário Soares, João Soares. Sócrates won the election, becoming the 6th Secretary-general of the Socialist Party.
Background After the 2001 local elections, António Guterres resigned as Prime Minister and as PS leader,"Guterres apresenta demissão depois de derrota nas autárquicas (act)", Jornal de Negócios, 17 December 2001. Retrieved 21 November 2021. with the party starting the process to elect a new leader. The popular Guterres minister, Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, who was a former MES leader and a former Jorge Sampaio supporter, was elected with almost unanimous support."Ferro Rodrigues eleito novo secretário-geral do PS ", Público, 20 January 2002. Retrieved 21 November 2021.
With Ferro Rodrigues as leader, the Socialists lost the 2002 legislative election to Durão Barroso by just 2.4% of the vote, electing 96 MPs. With a majority of right-wing MPs in the legislature, a Government was former between the Social Democrats (PSD) and the People's Party (CDS–PP), the first one to include the PP since the 80's, with the socialists returning to the opposition after 7 years in power.
Ferro Rodrigues leadership was not devoid of scandals with the most proeminent one being the Casa Pia scandal, with the arrest of a high-profile figure of the leadership of the party, the former Minister of Labour Paulo Pedroso.
Casa Pia scandal The Casa Pia scandal was a case of child sexual abuses involving a number of children and employees at Casa Pia, a Portuguese state-run institution for the education and support of poor children and under-age orphans.
The scandal of alleged sexual abuse at the state-run Casa Pia orphanages resurfaced when several former orphanage children came forward with accusations of abuse. The accusations linked some politicians, diplomats, and media celebrities—all of whom were alleged to have conspired in a paedophilia ring that had operated for decades. The scandal broke in September 2002 when the mother of one alleged victim, known as Joel, complained of abuse by staff at a Casa Pia house. Paulo Pedroso, who was responsible for the Casa Pia homes, was suspected of 15 cases of sexual violence against minors, which allegedly took place between 1999 and 2000. Although he was arrested in the Assembly of the Republic, his case was later dropped.
Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, who was a close personal friend of Paulo Pedroso, offered to undergo police questioning after "he had learned of plans to implicate him in the [Casa Pia] scandal". The weekly paper Expresso published a report on 25 May 2003, from four children who said they saw Ferro Rodrigues at locations where sexual abuse was taking place. The paper said there was no evidence he was personally involved and the Attorney General José Souto de Moura insisted he was not a suspect. Ferro Rodrigues took legal action against those who said they saw him at locations where sexual abuse was taking place.
Decline of the government's popularity and the European Elections
With the scandal settled, the release of Pedroso, and with the popularity of the opposition returning to form, the Socialists achieving their best result in a European election ever. The party won 44.5 percent of the votes, an increase of 1.5 percentage points, and held on to the 12 seats won in 1999, with these elections being seen as a referendum to the Government's popularity.
The Barroso government was marked by the fragile fiscal and economic situation of the country and by the War in Iraq, in which the Prime Minister was at odds with the President of the Republic Jorge Sampaio over the participation in the war. While Durão Barroso supported the invasion, even hosting a summit at Lajes Field, in the Azores, between the United States, the United Kingdom and Spain, which divided the public opinion, the President was against it.
A few days after the European election, José Manuel Durão Barroso announced he was resigning from the post of Prime Minister in order to become President of the European Commission."Durão Barroso apresenta demissão para ser presidente da Comissão Europeia ", RTP, 8 September 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2023. Despite pleas for a snap legislative election from Opposition parties, President Jorge Sampaio decided to nominate the new PSD leader, Pedro Santana Lopes as Prime Minister, angering many socialists."O dia em que Jorge Sampaio decepcionou os socialistas", Expresso, 15 January 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2023. This decision resulted in the resignation of Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues from the leadership of the party.
Candidates
Declared Name Born ExperienceJosé Sócrates(age 47)AlijóMember of Parliament for Castelo Branco (1987–2011)Minister of the Environment (1999–2002)Minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister (1997–1999)Secretary of State Assistant to the Minister of the Environment (1995–1997)Manuel Alegre(age 68)ÁguedaVice President of the Assembly of the Republic (1995–2009)Member of Parliament for Coimbra (1975–2009)Member of the Council of State (1996–2002)Secretary of State Assistant to the Prime Minister for Political Affairs (1977–1978)Secretary of State for Social Communication (1976–1977)João Soares(age 55)LisbonMember of Parliament from Lisbon (2002–2009)Mayor of Lisbon (1995–2001)Member of Parliament from Lisbon (1987–1991)
Declined
António Vitorino – incumbent European Commissioner for Justice and Home Affairs (1999–2004); former minister of Presidency and Defence (1995–1997) António José Seguro – incumbent leader of the Socialist parliamentary group (2004–2005); former minister in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister (2001–2002)
Notable endorsements
Results National summary Candidate 25 & 26 September 2004 Votes % José Sócrates 28,984 79.51 Manuel Alegre 5,693 15.62 João Soares 1,505 4.13 Total 36.182 Valid votes 36,182 99.26 Invalid and blank ballots 271 0.74 Votes cast / turnout 36,453 48.20 Registered voters 75,628 Source: Acção Socialista
Results by party federation The following table shows a breakdown of the results of the election by party federation, which are mostly equal to the electoral circles FederationJosé SócratesManuel AlegreJoão SoaresTurnoutRegisteredVotes%Votes%Votes%%Algarve 957 71.735826.8201.658.52,292Aveiro1,30475.236220.9694.047.63,657Baixo Alentejo46676.010116.5467.543.81,398Braga3,22686.842011.3721.940.59,235Bragança51078.612218.8172.647.01,386Castelo Branco73992.0617.630.467.51,194Coimbra1,96978.649319.7421.748.85,162Évora29070.610224.8194.651.8803Guarda35874.311123.0132.745.41,080Leiria88877.122719.7373.255.72,082Lisbon: Urban Area4,77573.11,25619.34987.755.711,769Lisbon: Oeste32082.35614.4133.353.4730Portalegre44984.27313.7112.146.81,143Porto5,80487.071610.71502.246.814,320Santarém77273.723422.3424.049.42,140Setúbal1,60772.439717.92159.748.64,613Viana do Castelo74688.4597.0394.640.72,100Vila Real92690.11019.810.156.71,821Viseu1,09687.115212.1100.849.32,564Azores77983.712012.9323.430.73,050Madeira89883.812011.2545.041.72,587Emigration12544.85218.610236.658.4502
See also Elections in Portugal List of political parties in Portugal
References
External links PS Official website