Unitary Democratic Coalition

The Unitary Democratic Coalition[4] (Portuguese: CDU – Coligação Democrática Unitária, PCP–PEV) is an electoral and political coalition between the Portuguese Communist Party (Portuguese: Partido Comunista Português or PCP) and the Ecologist Party "The Greens" (Portuguese: Partido Ecologista "Os Verdes" or PEV). The coalition also integrates the political movement Democratic Intervention (Portuguese: Intervenção Democrática or ID).

Unitary Democratic Coalition
Coligação Democrática Unitária
AbbreviationPCP–PEV
CDU (historical)
LeaderJerónimo de Sousa
Founded1987
Preceded byUnited People Alliance
HeadquartersRua Soeiro Pereira Gomes 3, 1600-019 Lisboa
Youth wingJuventude CDU
Membership49,960 in 2020 (PCP)
c. 6,000 in 2007 (PEV)
IdeologyCommunism[1][2]
Eco-socialism[3]
Political positionLeft-wing to far-left
European Parliament groupThe Left in the European Parliament – GUE/NGL (PCP)
Greens–European Free Alliance (PEV)
Colours  Blue and   green
  Red (customary)
Member partiesPCP
PEV
ID
Assembly of the Republic
6 / 230
European Parliament
2 / 21
Regional Parliaments
1 / 104
Local government
(Mayors)
19 / 308
Local government
(Parishes)
112 / 3,058
Election symbol
Website
www.cdu.pt

The coalition was formed for the first time in 1987 in order to run to the simultaneous legislative election and European Parliament election that were held on July 19 of that year.

Since the beginning of the coalition, the member parties have never participated separately in any election. The Communist Party is the major force inside it and has the majority of places in the electoral lists, however, the Greens also have an important presence, for instance, electing 2 members of parliament among the 17 elected by the coalition in the 2015 legislative election. Each party has its own parliamentary group and counts as a separate party in official issues. In the 2022 Portuguese legislative election, the Greens failed to elect any representatives.

At a local level, the coalition usually presents lists in almost every municipality and both Communists and Greens may occupy first place on the lists. As the Greens have a smaller structure, the offices of the Communist Party are used as offices of the coalition.

The coalition supported the minority Socialist Costa Government (2015–2019) with a confidence and supply agreement.

Symbol

The present symbol of CDU shows the PCP's symbol and the PEV's symbol, a hammer and sickle and a sunflower, respectively, with the respective names below. That symbol replaced a former one that featured three hexagons with the inscription: CDU and was often used with a beehive. That was sometimes said to mean that CDU worked just like a bee (collectively and every day) and the hexagons were meant to represent the cell-based Leninist organization of the PCP.

  • Coalition logo in 1987.
  • Coalition letters logo.
  • Current logo of the coalition.

Youth organization

The coalition has a youth wing, called Juventude CDU, that develops political work in youth related subjects, along with youth-oriented activities, mainly during the electoral campaigns. The Juventude CDU is mainly composed by members of the youth wings of the parties that compose the CDU, the Portuguese Communist Youth and the Ecolojovem.

Electoral results achieved by CDU

Assembly of the Republic
CDU sticker: Schedule and alert your friends: on 13 June (1999), Vote CDU to the European Parliament
CDU results in the local election of 2005. (Azores and Madeira are not shown)

Vote share in the Portuguese legislative elections

Election Leader Votes  % Seats +/- Government
1987 Álvaro Cunhal 689,137 12.1 (#3)
31 / 250
 7 Opposition
1991 504,583 8.8 (#3)
17 / 230
 14 Opposition
1995 Carlos Carvalhas 506,157 8.6 (#4)
15 / 230
 2 Opposition
1999 487,058 9.0 (#3)
17 / 230
 2 Opposition
2002 379,870 6.9 (#4)
12 / 230
 5 Opposition
2005 Jerónimo de Sousa 433,369 7.5 (#3)
14 / 230
 2 Opposition
2009 446,279 7.9 (#5)
15 / 230
 1 Opposition
2011 441,147 7.9 (#4)
16 / 230
 1 Opposition
2015 445,901 8.3 (#4)
17 / 230
 1 Opposition (2015)
Confidence and supply
2019 332,018 6.3 (#4)
12 / 230
 5 Confidence and supply
Opposition (2021)
2022 238,920 4.3 (#6)
6 / 230
 6 Opposition

European Parliament
Election Leader Votes  % Seats +/-
1987 Ângelo Veloso 648,700 11.5 (#4)
3 / 24
1989 Carlos Carvalhas 597,759 14.4 (#3)
4 / 24
 1
1994 Luis Manuel de Sá 340,725 11.2 (#4)
3 / 25
 1
1999 Ilda Figueiredo 357,671 10.3 (#3)
2 / 25
 1
2004 309,401 9.1 (#3)
2 / 24
 0
2009 379,787 10.6 (#4)
2 / 22
 0
2014 João Ferreira 416,925 12.7 (#3)
3 / 21
 1
2019 228,157 6.9 (#4)
2 / 21
 1

Regional Assemblies
Region Election Leader Votes  % Seats +/- Government
Azores 2020 João Corvelo 1,741 1.7 (#9)
0 / 57
 1 No seats
Madeira 2019 Edgar Silva 2,577 1.8 (#5)
1 / 47
 1 Opposition

Local elections
Election Leader Votes  % Councillors +/- Mayors +/-
1989 Álvaro Cunhal 633,682 12.8 (#3)
253 / 1,997
50 / 305
1993 Carlos Carvalhas 689,928 12.8 (#3)
246 / 2,015
 7
49 / 305
 1
1997 643,956 12.0 (#3)
236 / 2,021
 10
41 / 305
 8
2001 557,481 10.6 (#3)
202 / 2,044
 34
28 / 308
 13
2005 Jerónimo de Sousa 590,598 11.0 (#3)
203 / 2,046
 1
32 / 308
 4
2009 537,329 9.7 (#3)
174 / 2,078
 29
28 / 308
 4
2013 552,506 11.1 (#3)
213 / 2,086
 39
34 / 308
 6
2017 489,189 9.5 (#3)
171 / 2,074
 42
24 / 308
 10
2021 410,666 8.2 (#3)
148 / 2,064
 23
19 / 308
 5

References
  1. THE STATE OF POPULISM IN EUROPE (2016) via Politico EU
  2. The State of Populism in Europe 2017 via Academia
  3. Nordsieck, Wolfram (2019). "Portugal". Parties and Elections in Europe.
  4. "Elections for the National Parliament, 4th October 2015". 28 September 2015.
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