Mário Soares. a Politician and President of Unwritten Constitutional Competences
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Mário Soares. A Politician and President of Unwritten Constitutional Competences. Rebecca Sequeira Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena Content 1. Introduction.................................................................................................................................... 1 2. Charisma and Rhetoric in Theory and Practice............................................................. 3 3. The Role of Soares in the Revolutionary Phase 1974-1976........................................ 6 3.1 The Opposition in the Estado Novo and the End of the Dictatorship........................ 6 3.2 The Portuguese Parties and their Role in the Development of the Portuguese Democracy …........................................................................................................................... 9 3.2.1 Partido Socialista................................................................................................ 9 3.2.1.1 The Development and Role of the PS in the Revolutionary Phase................................................................................................................ 10 3.2.1.2 Organization and Composition of the PS..................................... 15 3.2.2 Partido Comunista de Portugal........................................................................ 16 3.2.3 Partido Popular Democrático/ Partido Social Democrata......................... 19 3.2.4 Centro Democrático Social/ Partido Popular............................................... 21 3.3 The Birth of the II. Republic: The Legal Validity of the Constitution and the Election to the first Constitutional Parliament.................................................................... 23 4. The President of the Republic .............................................................................................. 29 4.1 The Election of President Ramalho Eanes.................................................................... 29 4.2 The Politics of Soares vs. Eanes 1976-1986................................................................... 30 4.2.1 The Socialist Era 1976-1978........................................................................... 30 4.2.2 The Presidential Governments........................................................................ 34 4.2.3 The Election Year 1980.................................................................................... 36 4.2.4 Approximation PS-PSD: Eanes' Downfall.................................................... 39 4.3 Eanes, The Political President: The PRD....................................................................... 43 4.4 The Constitutional Revisions of 1982 and 1989............................................................ 46 4.5 The President of the Republic: Functions and Competences..................................... 50 5. The Presidency of Mário Soares 1986-1996....................................................................... 56 5.1 Presidential Candidacy and Election in 1986 and 1991................................................ 56 5.2 The Application of the Intervention Right.................................................................... 61 5.2.1 The Dissolution of Parliament 1987............................................................... 61 5.2.2 Vetoes and Constitutionality Control............................................................. 63 5.2.2.1 The War of the Flags........................................................................ 63 5.2.2.2 The Labor Law.................................................................................. 64 5.2.2.3 The Asylum Law............................................................................... 65 5.2.2.4 The Introduction of Tuition............................................................ 65 5.2.2.5 Interventions in the Media Ambit.................................................. 67 5.3 The Presidência Aberta.......................................................................................................... 68 5.3.1 The Presidência Aberta of 1989 on the Azores................................................ 71 5.3.2 The Presidência Aberta of 1993 in the Metropolitan Area of Lisbon........... 74 5.3.3 Soares, The Cultural President......................................................................... 77 5.3.4 Interpretation and Conclusions....................................................................... 78 5.4 The Power Struggle between President and Government in the Area of Foreign Policy........................................................................................................................................... 79 5.4.1 Angola.................................................................................................................. 80 5.4.2 Macau................................................................................................................... 86 5.4.3 South Africa........................................................................................................ 86 5.4.4 A Missed Opportunity...................................................................................... 88 5.4.5 Czechoslovakia................................................................................................... 89 5.4.6 The Ibero-American Summit........................................................................... 90 5.4.7 Interpretation and Conclusions....................................................................... 92 5.5 Soares, a Party Political President?................................................................................... 94 5.5.1 Discord with the PS........................................................................................... 94 5.5.2 The Media's Distortion of Reality................................................................... 95 5.5.3 The “Dictatorship of the Majority”................................................................ 98 5.5.4 The “Right to Indignation”.............................................................................. 102 5.5.5 The Last Polemic............................................................................................... 104 5.5.6 Interpretation and Conclusions....................................................................... 106 5.6 The Candidacy of 2006...................................................................................................... 107 6. Jorge Sampaio and Cavaco Silva: Development or Replica?................................... 109 7. Conclusions.................................................................................................................................... 113 8. Bibliography................................................................................................................................... 117 Appendix: 1. Interview with Mário Soares............................................................................................................. 120 2. The Revolution of 1974 – Background and Performance........................................................... 126 3. List of Abbreviations......................................................................................................................... 130 1 1. Introduction Mário Soares devoted his whole life to politics. He found his vocation in the office of President of the Portuguese Republic, which he occupied from 1986 to 1996. As the first civil President of the Second Republic, he shaped the functioning of the office and consolidated the role of the President as a moderator and arbiter of political life.1 His rhetorical skills and charismatic personality helped create a close relationship to the people (by whom he is affectionately called bucheixas). The closeness to the people granted him the legitimacy to act as a fourth pillar of power, next to the executive, legislative and judiciary powers. The constitutional competences for presidential intervention empower him to an indirect influence on the executive and legislative ambit. In the majority of cases, these means of influence have a “blocking” character. For instance: the President can impede the enactment of a law by making use of his veto power, but he is not involved in the process of devising that law.2 In contrast, his unwritten constitutional competences, which are enacted through communication, are of a constructive nature. Soares' implementation of the presidential office played a major role in modeling their possibilities. He originated two instruments, which operate productively and which were adopted by his successors: the Magistratura de Influência and the Presidência Aberta. The first defines the mediating role of the President between political and social actors. The Presidência Aberta is a simple but effective instrument used by the President to call attention to specific problems, causing the need for a reaction from the responsible actors. Two Presidências Abertas will be highlighted in the course of this thesis. The first, held on the Azores, was considered a great success, where Soares acted as an intermediate authority between the regional and central Government. The second one, in the metropolitan area of Lisbon, had the contrary effect: Soares was perceived as the center of opposition, who deliberately wanted to impair the Government. The present thesis is a political analysis of Soares' interventions and interactions during his presidency. The analysis will demonstrate, how large presidential influence is in Portugal in general,