The PSD is set to convene its National Council via videoconference, while the CDS-PP will gather in person for meetings scheduled at 9:00 PM on Wednesday, as per the campaign direction of the coalition.
The CDS-PP has already posted the meeting invitation on its website, announcing it will be held at the party’s national headquarters in Lisbon. The sole agenda item is “the approval of the electoral coalition name for the legislative elections on May 18.”
According to a ruling authored by Judge Dora Lucas Neto, revealed on Monday through a magazine article, the Constitutional Court has denied a request by the Social Democrats and centrists to use the name “AD – Aliança Democrática – PSD/CDS” in the electoral districts of mainland Portugal, Madeira, Europe, and outside Europe.
The court argues that given the “temporal proximity between legislative acts, about a year,” and the identical repetition of the Aliança Democrática name, “there is an undeniable risk of misleading voters into thinking it is always the same coalition, supported by the same identity of the political parties in coalition, when that is not the case.”
The judges at Palácio Ratton find a “real conflict between denominations” of the coalition presented last year and the one intending to proceed in this year’s legislative elections, without the same “supporting party identity,” as the People’s Monarchist Party (PPM) does not feature on the lists.
The court adds the risk that “voters may be led to think there is no difference” between the Aliança Democrática that won the elections in 2024 and this year’s coalition since the distinctive element in the name – PSD/CDS – does not seem sufficient to eliminate this risk.
The Constitutional Court highlights that the formal and legal requirements for registering the name were met, but the request was denied due to its similarity with the coalition name presented in the previous year, despite the change in represented parties.
Judge Gonçalo de Almeida Ribeiro presented a dissenting opinion, arguing that the expression “PSD/CDS” in the name makes it sufficiently distinct from the coalition presented in the last legislative elections.
Moreover, the judge explains, citing a prior ruling, that electoral coalitions “cease to exist as soon as the definitive election results are published,” unless they transform into political party coalitions, which did not happen with the Aliança Democrática.
The PSD and CDS-PP announced on the 28th of last month in daily newspapers that the coalition on the mainland and in Madeira would be named “AD — Aliança Democrática — PSD/CDS,” and in the Azores, it would use the formula applied in previous elections “PSD/CDS/PPM.”
Last Wednesday night, the National Councils of PSD and CDS-PP approved a pre-electoral coalition between the two parties for the early elections on May 18, without the PPM, contrary to the legislative and European elections of 2024.
The People’s Monarchist Party (PPM) has threatened to file an injunction at the start of this week to prevent the use of the “Aliança Democrática” name by the PSD/CDS-PP coalition, claiming it is being “severely harmed.”
Additionally, has been discussed further.
