| Cabinet Name: | I Constitutional Government of Portugal |
| Jurisdiction: | Portugal |
| Flag: | Flag of Portugal.svg |
| Flag Border: | true |
| Government Head: | Mário Soares |
| State Head: | António Ramalho Eanes |
| Political Party: | Socialist Party (PS) |
| Opposition Leaders: | --> |
| Election: | 1976 Portuguese legislative election (25 April 1976) |
| Previous: | VI Provisional Government of Portugal |
| Successor: | II Constitutional Government of Portugal |
| State Head Title: | President of the Republic |
| Government Head Title: | Prime Minister |
The I Constitutional Government of Portugal (Portuguese: I Governo Constitucional de Portugal) was the first non-provisional government of the Third Portuguese Republic, following the promulgation of the new Constitution of Portugal in April 1976. It had Mário Soares as the Prime Minister and lasted from 23 July 1976 to 23 January 1978.[1]
See main article: article and 1976 Portuguese legislative election. Following the Carnation Revolution on 25 April 1974, Portugal entered a period of transition to democracy. During this period, which lasted for about two years, several provisional administrations governed the country, starting with the National Salvation Junta, which was followed by six other provisional governments composed of military and civilian members.
On 25 April 1975, one year after the revolution, elections were carried out in Portugal to elect the 250 members of the Constituent Assembly. The main goal of this Constituent Assembly was to write a new Constitution of Portugal to replace the Estado Novo's Constitution of 1933. This assembly had a one-year mandate with no governing functions, as the country continued to be governed by a military-civilian provisional government during the deliberations of the Constituent Assembly. The Socialist Party (PS), with 38% of the votes, was the party with most representation.
The new Constitution of Portugal, drafted over the course of a year, was finally promulgated on 2 April 1976. Immediately after the promulgation, the Constituent Assembly was disbanded.
On 25 April 1976, the first legislative elections were carried out to elect the members of the Assembly of the Republic (the new official name of the Portuguese Parliament) and the new Constitutional Government of Portugal. The Socialist Party won the election with 34.89% of the votes, and got the approval of the President of Portugal António Ramalho Eanes to form a minority government. As the leader of PS, Mário Soares was sworn as Prime Minister, and became the first democratically-elect Prime Minister of the Third Portuguese Republic.
The government was composed of the Prime Minister, one Minister of State, a Minister without portfolio, and 15 ministries comprising Ministers, Secretaries and Sub-secretaries of State. The government also included the Ministers of the Republic for the Autonomous Regions of Azores and Madeira.[2]
| Party | Start of term | End of term | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prime Minister | Mário Soares | PS | 23 July 1976 | 23 January 1978 | |||
| Minister of State | Henrique de Barros | PS | 23 July 1976 | 23 January 1978 | |||
| Minister without portfolio | Jorge Campinos | PS | 23 July 1976 | 23 January 1978 | |||
| Minister of National Defence | Mário Firmino Miguel | Independent | 23 July 1976 | 23 January 1978 | |||
| Minister of the Economic Plan and Coordination | António Sousa Gomes | PS | 23 July 1976 | 23 January 1978 | |||
| Minister of the Internal Administration | Manuel da Costa Brás | Independent | 23 July 1976 | 23 January 1978 | |||
| Minister of Justice | António de Almeida Santos | PS | 23 July 1976 | 23 January 1978 | |||
| Minister of Finance | Henrique Medina Carreira | PS | 23 July 1976 | 23 January 1978 | |||
| Minister of Foreign Affairs | José Medeiros Ferreira | PS | 23 July 1976 | 11 October 1977 | |||
| Mário Soares | PS | 12 October 1977 | 23 January 1978 | ||||
| Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries | António Lopes Cardoso | PS | 23 July 1976 | 5 November 1976 | |||
| António Barreto | PS | 5 November 1976 | 23 January 1978 | ||||
| Minister of Industry and Technology | Walter Rosa | PS | 23 July 1976 | 7 January 1977 | |||
| António Sousa Gomes | PS | 7 January 1977 | 25 March 1977 | ||||
| Alfredo Nobre da Costa | Independent | 25 March 1977 | 23 January 1978 | ||||
| Minister of Commerce and Tourism | António Barreto | PS | 23 July 1976 | 25 March 1977 | |||
| Carlos Mota Pinto | Independent | 25 March 1977 | 23 January 1978 | ||||
| Minister of Labour | Francisco Marcelo Curto | PS | 23 July 1976 | 25 March 1977 | |||
| António Maldonado Gonelha | PS | 25 March 1977 | 23 January 1978 | ||||
| Minister of Education and Scientific Research | Mário Sottomayor Cardia | PS | 23 July 1976 | 23 January 1978 | |||
| Minister of Social Affairs | Armando Bacelar | PS | 23 July 1976 | 23 January 1978 | |||
| Minister of Transports and Communications | Emílio Rui Vilar | PS | 23 July 1976 | 23 January 1978 | |||
| Minister of Housing, City Planning and Construction | Eduardo Pereira | PS | 23 July 1976 | 23 January 1978 | |||
| Minister of Public Works | João Almeida Pina | Independent | 23 July 1976 | 23 January 1978 | |||
| Minister of the Republic for the Autonomous Region of Azores | Octávio Galvão de Figueiredo | Independent | 25 March 1977 | 23 January 1978 | |||
| Minister of the Republic for the Autonomous Region of Madeira | Lino Miguel | Independent | 25 March 1977 | 23 January 1978 | |||
By the second half of 1977, the situation of the Portuguese economy was deteriorating. During the summer of 1977, Prime Minister Mário Soares asked for a loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and several austerity measures were implemented, such as the rise of interest rates, devalue of the escudo and budget cuts.[3] [4] However, the policies were quite unpopular and by late 1977 Soares was facing significant opposition in the Parliament.
In November 1977, Soares proposed a sizeable memorandum between parties and associations to seek common economic and social policies, which was rejected.[5] Because of this rejection, Soares presented a motion of confidence to the Parliament, which he lost by a 59 vote margin.[6] Consequently, Soares announced the dissolution of the government, which took effect on 23 January 1978.