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The 2024 Azorean regional election will be held on 4 February 2024,[2] to determine the composition of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores. The election will replace all 57 members of the Azores Assembly, and the new members will then elect the President of the Autonomous Region.
The current president, José Manuel Bolieiro from the Social Democratic Party (PSD), is currently leading a coalition government between the Social Democrats and the CDS – People's Party (CDS-PP) and People's Monarchist Party (PPM), with the parliamentary support of CHEGA. The Liberal Initiative (IL) initially supported the PSD coalition government but withdrew their support from the government on 8 March 2023.[3] The Social Democrats, the CDS – People's Party and the People's Monarchist Party will contest this election in a joint coalition as stipulated in their 2020 coalition agreement.[4]
Background
2023 government crisis
The PSD/CDS-PP/PPM coalition government was, since the beginning, marred by unstability due to political tensions between or within parties, especially CHEGA, which already lost a member of the regional Parliament in the meantime.[5] But, on 8 March 2023, the Liberal Initiative decided to remove their support for the government, citing deep disagreements on policy and tensions between the minor parties within the coalition, CDS-PP and PPM particularly.[6] Shortly after, the independent MP Carlos Furtado, a CHEGA dissident, also withdrew his support for the government accusing the government of lack of institutional respect and for failing to follow the deal between them and Furtado.[7]
Following these announcements, that made the government lose its majority, President José Manuel Bolieiro rejected the idea of a motion of confidence and said that he will continue to govern, but that elections could be on the table.[8] The PS, the main opposition party, discussed the possibility of presenting a motion of no confidence against the government,[9] but the idea was dropped, and the PSD coalition government will govern as a minority and negotiate case by case with parties.[10]
Rejection of the budget proposal for 2024
In 23 November 2023, the parliament of Azores failed to approve the regional government's budget proposal for 2024. 28 MPs voted against it, 27 MPs voted in favor and 2 MPs abstained. The votes against it were cast by PS (25), BE (2) and IL (1). The votes in favor were by PSD (21), CDS-PP (3), PPM (2) and the independent MP Carlos Furtado (1). CHEGA (1) and PAN (1) abstained. According to the Framework Law for the Budget of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, the regional government must present a new budget proposal within 90 days of the rejection of the previous proposal. The president of the regional government, José Manuel Bolieiro, said he wanted to present a new budget proposal. That same day, the President of Portugal scheduled meetings for 30 November, at the Belém Palace in Lisbon, with the parties represented in the parliament of Azores.[11][12][13]
On the meeting with the President of Portugal, in 30 November, José Manuel Bolieiro said that it seemed pointless to present a second budget proposal without a guarantee of its approval and that early regional legislative elections should be held as quickly as possible. He suggested the date of 4 February 2024 for the elections and announced that PSD, CDS-PP and PPM would run together as a coalition. PS, CDS-PP, BE, PPM and IL also said they wanted early elections.[14][15]
On 11 December, after meeting with the Council of State, the President of Portugal dissolved the parliament of Azores and called early elections for 4 February 2024.[16]
Electoral system
The Azores regional parliament elects 57 members through a proportional system in which the 9 islands elect a number of MPs proportional to the number of registered voters. MPs are allocated by using the D'Hondt method. 5 members are also elected for a compensation constituency. Distribution of MPs by constituency:[17]
| Constituency | Total MPs |
Registered voters |
|---|---|---|
| Corvo | 2 | 355 |
| Faial | 4 | 13,005 |
| Flores | 3 | 3,083 |
| Graciosa | 3 | 3,872 |
| Pico | 4 | 13,808 |
| Santa Maria | 3 | 5,200 |
| São Jorge | 3 | 8,712 |
| São Miguel | 20 | 128,814 |
| Terceira | 10 | 53,072 |
| Compensation | 5 | - |
| Total | 57 | 229,921 |
Parties
Current composition
The table below lists parties represented in the Legislative Assembly of the Azores before the election.
| Name | Ideology | Leader | 2020 result | Current seats | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| % | Seats | ||||||
| PS | Socialist Party Partido Socialista |
Social democracy | Vasco Cordeiro | 39.1% | 25 / 57 |
25 / 57 | |
| PSD | Social Democratic Party Partido Social Democrata |
Liberal conservatism | José Manuel Bolieiro | 33.7% | 21 / 57 |
21 / 57 | |
| CDS-PP | CDS – People's Party Centro Democrático Social – Partido Popular |
Conservatism | Artur Lima | 5.5% | 3 / 57 |
3 / 57 | |
| CH | CHEGA! Chega! |
Economic liberalism Right-wing populism |
José Pacheco[18] | 5.1% | 2 / 57 |
1 / 57 | |
| BE | Left Bloc Bloco de Esquerda |
Left-wing populism | António Lima | 3.8% | 2 / 57 |
2 / 57 | |
| PPM | People's Monarchist Party Partido Popular Monárquico |
Monarchism | Paulo Estêvâo | 2.4% | 2 / 57 |
2 / 57 | |
| IL | Liberal Initiative Iniciativa Liberal |
Liberalism | Nuno Barata José Luís Parreira |
1.9% | 1 / 57 |
1 / 57 | |
| PAN | People Animals Nature Pessoas-Animais-Natureza |
Animal welfare Environmentalism |
Pedro Neves | 1.9% | 1 / 57 |
1 / 57 | |
| JPP | Together for the People Juntos pelo Povo |
Regionalism | Carlos Furtado[lower-alpha 3] | Did not run | 1 / 57 | ||
Parties running in the election
11 lists will be on the ballot for the 2024 Azorean regional election, eight parties and three coalitions. The parties that will contest the election and their lead candidates, are: (alphabetically ordered)[20]
- National Democratic Alternative (ADN), Rui Matos[21]
- Left Bloc (BE), António Lima[22]
- Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU), Paula Decq Mota[23]
- CHEGA (CH), José Pacheco[24]
- Liberal Initiative (IL), Nuno Barata[25]
- Together for the People (JPP), Carlos Furtado[26]
- LIVRE (L), José Azevedo[27]
- Earth Party/Alliance Alternative 21 coalition (MPT/A) [28]
- People-Animals-Nature (PAN), Pedro Neves
- Social Democratic Party/CDS – People's Party/People's Monarchist Party coalition (PSD/CDS–PP/PPM), José Manuel Bolieiro[29][30]
- Socialist Party (PS), Vasco Cordeiro[31]
Campaign period
Party slogans
| Party or alliance | Original slogan | English translation | Refs | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSD/CDS/PPM | « Unidos pelos Açores » | "United by the Azores" | [32] | |
| PS | « Vasco Cordeiro, o Presidente de Confiança » | "Vasco Cordeiro, the Trusted President" | [33] | |
| CH | « Os Açores precisam de uma limpeza » | "The Azores needs a clean up" | [34] | |
| BE | « Levar a sério os Açores » | "Taking the Azores seriously" | [35] | |
| IL | « A alternativa é Liberal » | "The alternative is Liberal" | [36] | |
| PAN | « Um por todos. Todos pelos Açores » | "One for all. All for the Azores" | [37] | |
| JPP | « Em frente. Sem medo! » | "Forward. Without fear!" | [38] | |
Opinion polls
| Polling firm/Link | Fieldwork date | Sample size | Turnout | .png.webp){kind=small} |
 |
 |
 |
.png.webp){kind=logo} |
 |
O | Lead | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
 |
 | ||||||||||||||||
| 2022 Legislative election | 30 Jan 2022 | — | 36.7 | 42.8 | 33.9 | 5.9 | 4.3 | 1.4 | 4.1 | 7.6 | 8.9 | |||||||
| 2021 Local Elections | 26 Sep 2021 | — | 54.2 | 43.1 | 46.4 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 0.5 | 1.2 | 5.8 | 3.3 | |||||||
| 2020 Regional Election | 25 Oct 2020 | — | 45.4 | 39.1 25 |
33.7 21 |
5.5 3 |
2.4 2 |
5.1 2 |
3.8 2 |
1.9 1 |
1.9 1 |
6.6 0 |
5.4 | |||||
Voter turnout
The table below will show voter turnout throughout election day.
| Turnout | Time | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11:00 | 16:00 | 19:00 | |||||||
| 2020 | 2024 | ± | 2020 | 2024 | ± | 2020 | 2024 | ± | |
| Total | 9.16% | 0.00% |  0.00 pp |
32.68% | 0.00% | 0.00 pp |
45.41% | 0.00% | 0.00 pp |
| Sources[39] | |||||||||
Results
Regional summary
| Parties | Votes | % | ±pp swing | MPs | MPs %/ votes % | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 2024 | ± | % | ± | ||||||
| PSD/CDS/PPM coalition | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | [lower-alpha 2]26 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.00 | |
| Socialist | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 25 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.00 | |
| CHEGA | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.00 | |
| Left Bloc | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.00 | |
| Liberal Initiative | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.00 | |
| People-Animals-Nature | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.00 | |
| Democratic Unity Coalition | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.00 | |
| LIVRE | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.00 | |
| Alternative 21 (Earth Party/Alliance) | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | 0.00 | |
| National Democratic Alternative | 0 | 0.00 | — | — | 0 | — | 0.00 | — | 0.00 | |
| Together for the People | 0 | 0.00 | — | — | 0 | — | 0.00 | — | 0.00 | |
| Total valid | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 |
57 | 57 | 0 |
100.00 | 0.0 |
— | |
| Blank ballots | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | |||||||
| Invalid ballots | 0 | 0.00 | 0.0 | |||||||
| Total | 0 | 100.00 | ||||||||
| Registered voters/turnout | 229,921 | 0.00 | 0.0 | |||||||
| Source:[17] | ||||||||||
Results by constituency
| Constituency | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | % | S | Total S | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| PSD/CDS/ PPM |
PS | CH | BE | IL | PAN | ||||||||||||||
| Corvo | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 2 | ||||||||
| Faial | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 4 | ||||||
| Flores | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 3 | ||||||||
| Graciosa | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 3 | ||||||
| Pico | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 4 | ||||||
| Santa Maria | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 3 | ||||||
| São Jorge | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 3 | ||||||
| São Miguel | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 20 | ||||||
| Terceira | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 10 | ||||||
| Compensation | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | ||||||||||||
| Total | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 57 | ||||||
| Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições | |||||||||||||||||||
See also
Notes
References
- ↑ Alteração à Lei Eleitoral da ALRA dos Açores - CNE (in Portuguese), Lisbon, Portugal: Comissão Nacional dos Eleições, archived from the original on 2009-02-19
- ↑ Presidente dissolve Assembleia dos Açores e marca eleições para 4 de Fevereiro Público, 11 December 2023. Retrieved 11 December 2023.
- ↑ IL rompe com PSD nos Açores e ex-Chega imita-o. PS já fala em “certidão de óbito” Público, 8 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ↑ Acordo político entre PSD, CDS e PPM nos Açores é para duas legislaturas TVI24, 14 November 2020. Retrieved 1 December 2020.
- ↑ Chega-Açores perde líder e um deputado: Carlos Furtado passa a independente “com alegria” Público, 14 July 2021. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ↑ IL rompe acordo de incidência parlamentar com Governo dos Açores Notícias ao Minuto, 8 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ↑ Açores. Após IL, deputado independente também rompe acordo com Governo Notícias ao Minuto, 8 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ↑ Bolieiro recusa moção de confiança e ser "fator de instabilidade" Jornal de Notícias, 8 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ↑ "Temos assistido permanentemente a situações de instabilidade". PS Açores decide sobre moção de censura na quinta-feira CNN Portugal, 8 March 2023. Retrieved 9 March 2023.
- ↑ Crise política nos Açores: Bolieiro promete estabilidade governativa SIC Notícias, 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
- ↑ Henriques, João (23 November 2023). "Parlamento dos Açores chumba orçamento. Marcelo convoca partidos". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ↑ "Orçamento dos Açores para 2024 chumbado com votos contra da IL, PS e BE e abstenções do Chega e PAN". CNN Portugal (in Portuguese). 23 November 2023. Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ↑ "Lei n.º 79/98, de 24 de novembro". Diário da República (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ↑ Martins, Susana (30 November 2023). "PSD quer eleições antecipadas nos Açores. "Mais vale antecipar uma decisão do povo"". Radio Renascença (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ↑ Soares, Tiago; Correia, João. "Governo regional dos Açores pede eleições antecipadas para 4 de fevereiro". Expresso (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 30 November 2023. Retrieved 30 November 2023.
- ↑ "É oficial: Marcelo confirma eleições antecipadas nos Açores". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 11 December 2023. Archived from the original on 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- 1 2 Mapa de Deputados (PDF), Lisbon, Portugal: Diário da Républica, 12 December 2023
- ↑ Deputado regional José Pacheco eleito presidente do Chega nos Açores Sapo24, 23 April 2022. Retrieved 24 April 2022.
- ↑ Ex-deputado do Chega/Açores fica na Assembleia Regional como independente, TSF Radio, 14 July 2021. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
- ↑ 10 forças políticas apresentaram candidaturas às eleições regionais, RTP Açores, 26 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ↑ Regionais 2024: ADN apresenta candidatos em todos os círculos eleitorais, RTP Açores, 26 December 2023. Retrieved 27 December 2023.
- ↑ "Regionais 2024: António Lima é cabeça de lista do BE por São Miguel e pelo círculo de compensação". RTP Açores (in European Portuguese). 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ↑ "PCP/Açores: Marco Varela não será candidato às eleições regionais antecipadas". RTP Açores (in European Portuguese). 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ↑ Lusa, Agência. "Chega com candidatos em todos os círculos e José Pacheco cabeça de lista em São Miguel". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ↑ "Regionais 2024: Nuno Barata volta a encabeçar a lista da IL por São Miguel e compensação". RTP Açores (in European Portuguese). 2023-12-22. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ↑ Lusa, Agência. "JPP candidata ex-líder do Chega às regionais dos Açores". DNOTICIAS.PT (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ↑ Lusa, Agência. "Livre candidata-se aos 10 círculos e acredita em bom resultado nos Açores". Observador (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ↑ Lusa (2023-12-29). "Partidos estimam gastar mais de 960 mil euros na campanha". Açoriano Oriental (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ↑ Lusa (2023-12-09). "PSD/Açores aprova coligação com CDS-PP e PPM e designa Bolieiro cabeça-de-lista". PÚBLICO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ↑ Constitutional Court (2023-12-27). "Acordão nº 879/2023" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2023-12-29.
- ↑ "Regionais 2024: Vasco Cordeiro é cabeça de lista por São Miguel e Compensação". RTP Açores (in European Portuguese). 2023-12-23. Retrieved 2023-12-28.
- ↑ "PSD Açores Facebook page". PSD Açores Facebook page (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ↑ "PS Açores Facebook page Vasco Cordeiro, o Presidente de Confiança". PS Açores (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ↑ "Chega Açores Facebook page". Chega Açores (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ↑ "Bloco de Esquerda Açores Facebook page". Bloco de Esquerda Açores (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ↑ "Iniciativa Liberal - Açores Facebook page". Iniciativa Liberal Açores (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ↑ "PAN Açores Facebook page". PAN Açores Açores (in Portuguese). Retrieved 30 December 2023.
- ↑ "Movimento Juntos pelo Povo Açores Facebook page". JPP Açores (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2 July 2023.
- ↑ "Eleições nos Açores. Até às 11h00 tinham ido votar 9,16% dos eleitores". observador.pt (in Portuguese). Observador. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2023.