Leader of the Opposition (Portugal)

Leader of the Opposition
Leader of the Opposition
Líder da Oposição
	Incumbent; Rui Rio; since 18 February 2018
Term length	No fixed term; While leader of the largest political party not in government
Inaugural holder	Francisco de Sá Carneiro; (of the Third Republic)
Formation	23 July 1976 (informally)

The Leader of the Opposition (Portuguese: Líder da Oposição) is an unofficial, mostly conventional and honorary title traditionally held by the leader of the largest party in the Assembly of the Republic – the Portuguese parliament – not within the government; historically, since the Carnation Revolution of 1974, these have almost always been the Socialist and the Social Democratic Parties.

Currently, the Socialist Party holds a minority government. The Opposition consists of the Social Democratic Party, the Left Bloc, the Portuguese Communist Party, CDS – People's Party, People–Animals–Nature, Ecologist Party "The Greens", Enough!, Liberal Initiative, and LIVRE.

The current Leader of the Opposition is Rui Rio, since 18 February 2018, after having been elected President of the Social Democratic Party on the previous 13 January.

Role[]

Due to its workings being based mostly on custom and convention, the Leader of the Opposition has a small official role, even though it is legally, honorifically, and nominally recognised. Law No. 40/2006, that establishes the order of precedence of public authorities in general official acts, places the Leader of the Opposition in eighth place in the list of precedences, only behind the President of the Republic, the legislative speaker, the sitting Prime Minister of Portugal, the presidents of the Supreme Court and the Constitutional Court, the presidents of the Supreme Administrative Court and the Court of Auditors, former presidents of the Republic, and sitting government ministers.^[1]

Even though the Leader of the Opposition is not entitled to a specific salary aside from the one they may have by reason of holding a public office on their own – such as that of deputy – the officeholder usually receives much more attention from the media in parliamentary sessions and activities. It is not, however, required for a Leader of the Opposition to hold the post of deputy in the Assembly of the Republic – Rui Rio, who currently leads the Opposition, held no parliamentary seat^[2] until 25 October 2019.

Graphical timeline (since 1976)[]

List of Leaders of the Opposition[]

Colour key (for political parties)
Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) Socialist Party (PS) Social Democratic Party (PSD) Democratic Alliance (AD) Portugal Ahead (PàF) Independent

Date		Party Leader
23 July 1976	PSD	Francisco Sá Carneiro	Mário Soares
16 April 1977		António de Sousa Franco
15 April 1978
2 July 1978		Francisco Sá Carneiro
29 August 1978	PS	Mário Soares	Alfredo Nobre da Costa
22 November 1978			Carlos Mota Pinto
1 August 1979			Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo
3 January 1980			Francisco Sá Carneiro
4 December 1980			Diogo Freitas do Amaral (acting)
9 January 1981			Francisco Pinto Balsemão
9 June 1983	PCP	Álvaro Cunhal	Mário Soares
6 November 1985	PS	Mário Soares	Aníbal Cavaco Silva
13 November 1985		António Macedo
29 June 1986		Vítor Constâncio
6 November 1988		Jorge Sampaio
23 February 1992		António Guterres
28 October 1995	PSD	Fernando Nogueira	António Guterres
29 March 1996		Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
1 May 1999		José Manuel Durão Barroso
6 April 2002	PS	Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues	José Manuel Durão Barroso
17 July 2004		Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues	Pedro Santana Lopes
24 September 2004		José Sócrates	Pedro Santana Lopes
12 March 2005	PSD	Pedro Santana Lopes	José Sócrates
10 April 2005		Luís Marques Mendes
28 September 2007		Luís Filipe Menezes
31 May 2008		Manuela Ferreira Leite
26 March 2010		Pedro Passos Coelho
21 June 2011	PS	José Sócrates	Pedro Passos Coelho
23 July 2011		António José Seguro
22 November 2014		António Costa
26 November 2015	PSD	Pedro Passos Coelho	António Costa
18 February 2018	PSD	Rui Rio	António Costa

Leaders of the Opposition by time in office[]

Longest serving Leader of the Opposition Mário Soares, 4 years, 291 days.

Shortest serving Leader of the Opposition Pedro Santana Lopes, 29 days.

Rank by length of terms	Leader	Length by time served	Number of terms	Party
1	Mário Soares	4 years, 291 days	2	Socialist
2	Rui Rio	3 years, 348 days (Incumbent)	1	Social Democratic
3	António Guterres	3 years, 247 days	1	Socialist
4	Pedro Passos Coelho	3 years, 171 days	2	Social Democratic
5	Jorge Sampaio	3 years, 109 days	1	Socialist
6	António José Seguro	3 years, 122 days	1	Socialist
7	Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa	3 years, 33 days	1	Social Democratic
8	José Manuel Durão Barroso	2 years, 340 days	1	Social Democratic
9	Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues	2 years, 171 days	1	Socialist
9	Luís Marques Mendes	2 years, 171 days	1	Social Democratic
10	Álvaro Cunhal	2 years, 150 days	1	Communist
11	Vítor Constâncio	2 years, 130 days	1	Socialist
12	Francisco Sá Carneiro	2 years, 87 days	2	Social Democratic
13	Manuela Ferreira Leite	1 year, 299 days	1	Social Democratic
14	António Costa	1 year, 4 days	1	Socialist
15	António de Sousa Franco	364 days	1	Social Democratic
16	Luís Filipe Menezes	246 days	1	Social Democratic
17	António Macedo	228 days	1	Socialist
18	José Sócrates	201 days	2	Socialist
19	Fernando Nogueira	153 days	1	Social Democratic
20		78 days	1	Social Democratic
21	Pedro Santana Lopes	29 days	1	Social Democratic

References[]

^ "Law of Precedences in the Portuguese State Protocol". Law No. 40/2006 of 25 August 2006. Diário da República (in Portuguese). Retrieved 19 February 2018.
^ Paula Sá. "Os outros desafios de Rui Rio". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 19 February 2018.