Portuguese Workers' Communist Party

Portuguese Workers' Communist Party/Reorganized Movement of the Party of the Proletariat Partido Comunista dos Trabalhadores Portugueses/Movimento Reorganizativo do Partido do Proletariado
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Leader	António Garcia Pereira
Founded	1970
Headquarters	Lisbon, Portugal
Youth wing	Formerly the Marxist–Leninist Students Federation, now non existent.
Ideology	Communism, Maoism
Political position	Far-left
International affiliation	None
Colors	Red
Assembly of the Republic	0 / 230
European Parliament	0 / 21
Regional parliaments	0 / 104
Local Government	2 / 2,086
Website
http://www.pctpmrpp.org
Politics of Portugal Political parties Elections

The Portuguese Workers' Communist Party/Reorganized Movement of the Party of the Proletariat (Portuguese: Partido Comunista dos Trabalhadores Portugueses/Movimento Reorganizativo do Partido do Proletariado, PCTP/MRPP) is a Maoist political party founded in 1970 in Portugal. On the ballot, its name appears as the Portuguese Workers' Communist Party, omitting the "Reorganized" part of the name; however its acronym remains unchanged. Its first secretary-general was Arnaldo Matos.

Originally called merely the MRPP, the party's political orientation has been Maoist since its foundation. In 1971, still during the conservative and authoritarian dictatorship led by Marcello Caetano, the party began issuing a newspaper called Luta Popular (People's Struggle). The party was among the most active resistance movements before the Portuguese democratic revolution of 1974, especially among students of Lisbon. After the revolution, the MRPP achieved fame for its large and highly artistic mural paintings. It was intensely active during 1974 and 1975. At that time, the party had members that later came to be very important in national politics, for example, José Manuel Durão Barroso and Fernando Rosas, who subsequently left the party. The party, however, never managed to elect a single MP in legislative elections.

During the revolutionary period of 1974 and 1975, the MRPP was accused (mainly by the Portuguese Communist Party) of being an agent of the CIA - a belief that was fueled by the cooperation between the MRPP and the Socialist Party against the communist programme defended by Portuguese Communist Party.

In 1976, the party changed its name to the Portuguese Workers' Communist Party, and it was then that it started to use the acronym PCTP/MRPP. Its historical leaders are Arnaldo de Matos and Saldanha Sanches. The latter directed the Luta Popular newspaper. Its current leader is António Garcia Pereira.

The party's youth wing, now extinct, was the Marxist–Leninist Students Federation, to which José Manuel Durão Barroso also belonged.

Election results

Assembly of the Republic

Election	# of votes	% of vote	# of seats	Place
1976	36,200	0.66%	0	7th
1979	53,268	0.89%	0	8th
1980	35,409	0.59%	0	11th
1983	20,995	0.37%	0	9th
1985	19,943	0.34%	0	9th
1987	20,800	0.37%	0	11th
1991	48,542	0.85%	0	7th
1995	41,137	0.70%	0	5th
1999	40,006	0.74%	0	6th
2002	36,193	0.66%	0	6th
2005	48,186	0.84%	0	6th
2009	52,761	0.93%	0	6th
2011	62,610	1.12%	0	6th
2015	59,812	1.13%	0	8th

European Parliament

Election	# of votes	% of vote	# of seats	Place
1987	19,475	0.35%	0	12th
1989	26,682	0.64%	0	10th
1994	24,022	0.79%	0	5th
1999	30,446	0.88%	0	6th
2004	36,294	1.07%	0	5th
2009	42,940	1.20%	0	7th
2014	54,708	1.67%	0	8th

See also

• Politics of Portugal
• List of political parties in Portugal
• Carnation Revolution
• Marxist–Leninist Students Federation
• Maoism

External links

• Homepage of PCTP/MRPP (Portuguese)