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Portugal The Presidency
Although Portugal's government includes a parliament,
an
assembly, and a cabinet needing parliamentary support, its
president has considerable power. As noted above, this
dual
system was a response to the Portugal's experiences with
parliamentary instability and dictatorship. Yet, the
extent of
the president's power, even after the 1982 revision of the
constitution, was not always clear. As a result, at times
the
relationships among the main institutions of the
Portuguese
system remained somewhat ambiguous.
The president is elected by majority vote in nationwide
balloting. The term of office is five-years, and no
president may
serve more than two consecutive terms. Real power is
vested in
the office of the president, who is not merely a symbol of
national unity, but rather the chief of state. In times of
national crisis, presidents can make or unmake
governments, and
even in normal times (for example, when the government is
weak
and no party has a majority) they can exercise
considerable
influence behind the scenes.
According to the terms of the 1989 revised edition of
the
constitution, the president's powers and duties include
acting as
supreme commander of the armed forces, promulgating laws,
declaring a state of siege, granting pardons, submitting
legislation to the Constitutional Court for approval,
making many
high appointments, and, when needed, removing high
officials from
their posts. He also calls elections, convenes special
sessions
of the Assembly of the Republic, dissolves this body in
accordance with law, and appoints the prime minister.
The 1982 amendments to the constitution reduced the
powers of
the presidency somewhat, mainly by specifying the periods
in
which presidents may not dissolve the assembly (during the
first
six months after its election, in the last six months of
his
term, and during a state of siege or an emergency) and
stipulating when they may dismiss a government ("only when
this
becomes necessary to secure the regular functioning of the
democratic institutions"). The presidential veto power was
reduced in that a simple majority in the assembly can
override
presidential vetoes. The former power of pocket veto was
also
abolished. According to the 1982 amendments, the president
must
either accept legislation or reject it.
The presidency was intended for a national figure of
great
prestige and ideally one above partisan politics. As of
the early
1990s, Portugal had had only two presidents since the
constitution was promulgated in 1976. General Eanes was
elected
in 1976 and easily reelected to a second term in 1980. In
1986 PS
leader Soares was elected to the presidency, but only in
the
runoff election after he gained the support of the PCP and
the
PSD. In January 1991, he easily won reelection for a
second term.
These two men were genuinely popular presidents because
of
their statesmanlike qualities and their obvious devotion
to their
country's welfare. General Eanes was widely regarded as
the man
who made possible Portugal's transition to centrist
democracy
after the tumult of the revolution. He was politically
moderate
and a conciliator who remained apart from the country's
contending factions. In Portugal's democratic transition,
Soares
was also seen as a heroic figure who had fought
tenaciously first
against the Salazar regime, enduring both imprisonment and
exile,
and later against communist rule. He was also the
country's first
civilian president since the First Republic.
Data as of January 1993
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