12th Legislature of the Third Portuguese Republic

12th Legislature of the Third Portuguese Republic
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Overview
Legislative body	Assembly of the Republic
Meeting place	Palace of Saint Benedict
Term	20 June 2011 (2011-06-20) – 22 October 2015 (2015-10-22)
Election	5 June 2011
Government	XIX Constitutional Government
Website	parlamento.pt
Deputies
Members	230
President	Assunção Esteves (PPD/PSD)
First Vice-President	Guilherme Silva (PPD/PSD)
Second Vice-President	Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues (PS)
Third Vice-President	Teresa Caeiro (CDS–PP)
Fourth Vice-President	António Filipe (PCP)

The 12th Legislature of the Third Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: XII Legislatura da Terceira República Portuguesa) ran from 20 October 2011 to 22 October 2015. The composition of the Assembly of the Republic, the legislative body of Portugal, was determined by the results of the 2011 legislative election, held on 5 June 2011.

Election

The 13th Portuguese legislative election was held on 5 June 2011. In the election, the Social Democratic Party (PPD/PSD) became the largest party but fell short of a majority, rellying on the CDS – People's Party (CDS–PP) to form a majority coalition government.

Party		Assembly of the Republic
		Votes	%	Seats	+/−
	PPD/PSD	2,159,181	38.66	108	+27
	PS	1,566,347	28.05	74	-23
	CDS–PP	653,888	11.71	24	+3
	CDU	441,147	7.90	16	+1
	BE	288,923	5.17	8	-8
	Others/blanks/invalids	475,143	8.49	0	±0
Total		5,585,054	100.00	230	±0

Composition (2011–2015)

Party		Parliamentary group leader	Elected
			Seats	%
	PPD/PSD	Luís Montenegro (Aveiro)	108	47.0
	PS	Maria de Belém Roseira (Lisbon) (2011) Carlos Zorrinho (Évora) (2011–2013) Alberto Martins (Porto) (2013–2014) Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues (Lisbon) (2014–2015)	74	32.2
	CDS–PP	Nuno Magalhães (Setúbal)	24	10.4
	PCP	Bernardino Soares (Lisbon) (2011–2013) João Oliveira (Évora) (2013–2015)	14	6.1
	BE	Luís Fazenda (Lisbon) (2011–2012) Pedro Filipe Soares (Aveiro) (2012–2015)	8	3.5
	PEV	Heloísa Apolónia (Setúbal)	2	0.9
Total			230	100.0

Election for President of the Assembly of the Republic

To be elected, a candidate needs to reach a minimum of 116 votes. The Social Democratic Party (PSD) proposed Fernando Nobre as their candidate for president. The CDS – People's Party (CDS–PP) announced that they would abstain from voting for Fernando Nobre, citing concerns that the party didn't consider Nobre to be worthy of being the second most important state figure. The first ballot occurred on 20 June 2011, where Fernando Nobre failed to be elected:

Election of the President of the Assembly of the Republic
Ballot →		20 June 2011
Required majority →		116 out of 230
	Fernando Nobre (PPD/PSD)	106 / 230	N
	Blank ballots	101 / 230
	Invalid ballots	21 / 230
	Absentees	2 / 230
Sources:

Following the first ballot, a second ballot was required to take place in the same day. Fernando Nobre was once again the only candidate on the ballot, failing once again to achieve a majority:

Election of the President of the Assembly of the Republic
Ballot →		20 June 2011
Required majority →		116 out of 230
	Fernando Nobre (PPD/PSD)	105 / 230	N
	Blank ballots	101 / 230
	Invalid ballots	22 / 230
	Absentees	2 / 230
Sources:

A third ballot was scheduled for the next day, 21 June. Fernando Nobre decided to withraw his candidacy, and the PSD proposed Assunção Esteves as their candidate for president, this time with the support of the CDS–PP. Assunção Esteves was easily elected, becoming the first woman President of the Assembly of the Republic:

Election of the President of the Assembly of the Republic
Ballot →		21 June 2011
Required majority →		116 out of 230
	Assunção Esteves (PPD/PSD)	186 / 230	Y
	Blank ballots	41 / 230
	Invalid ballots	2 / 230
	Absentees	1 / 230
Sources: