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Democratic nation

Portugal has been a democratic nation since 1976 when its politicians wrote the first constitution. It is also a republic and has a president, an assembly, a government and the courts. In 1986 Portugal joined the European Economic Community and, in 1999, was in the first wave of countries to implement the euro as its currency. Portugal is now a free and democratic state, and enjoys the benefits of a wealthy European nation.

Structure

The president is elected every five years and has the power to appoint and dismiss the prime minister and their council, dissolve the assembly, call an early election and veto legislation. The assembly has 230 deputies elected every four years. The government is led by the prime minister. He in turn chooses a council made up of ministers and secretaries of state. The strongest parties within government are the Socialist Party (Partido Socialista) and the Social Democratic Party (Partido Democrata Social).

Today’s government

In the 2005 elections, the Socialist Party achieved an absolute majority for the first time ever. The current president, Jorge Sampaio, invited José Socrates to be prime minister. Socrates then formed his cabinet from senior members of the Socialist Party and the other half from independent parties. Since then the President has been re-elected and is now Aníbal Cavaco Silva, elected in March 2006.

Pro-Europe

In terms of European integration, the Portuguese are very pro-Europe. A 1994 survey showed that 60% of Portuguese trusted the EU, unsurprisingly as their very own José Manuel Durão Barroso has been the European Commission President-designate since June 2004. As well as being a founding member of the EU in 1986, Portugal was also a founding member of NATO in 1949 and of the United Nations in 1955.

Civil liberties

Portuguese civil liberties have an excellent reputation. The freedom of the press is high up in the rankings of Reporters without Borders and is ranked tenth best in the world. Information from 2005 states that freedom of association, assembly, speech and movement have all been respected with no incidents occurring.

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Documents and Reports

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Documents and Reports

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