Incumbent PresidentFrancisco Craveiro Lopes had clashed with Salazar and did not seek another term, either as candidate of the regime or for the opposition, which deemed the incumbent president capable of winning the race. In Craveiro Lopes' place, the National Union, the sole legal political party, levied naval minister Américo Tomás, a conservative.
The democratic opposition backed Air Force General Humberto Delgado, who ran as an independent in an attempt to challenge the regime. When asked if he would retain Salazar if elected, Delgado famously replied, "Obviously, I'll sack him."[1] Delgado knew that under Portugal's corporatist constitution, the president still had the right to dismiss the prime minister, which was effectively the only check on Salazar's power.
The official tally was 76.4 percent for Tomás and 23.6 percent for Delgado. The regime's secret police force, PIDE, harassed and attacked Delgado voters and supporters, and there were many reports of widespread electoral fraud.[2] For example, Salazar refused to allow opposition representatives to observe the counting of ballots.[1]
Many neutral observers believe that Delgado would have won in a landslide had Salazar allowed an honest election. Nevertheless, the results came as a shock to Salazar. Leaving nothing to chance, in 1959 he had the Constitution amended to transfer the presidential election to the National Assembly, which was a pliant tool of the regime. As a result, the 1958 election would be the only presidential election during the 48 years of the Second Portuguese Republic (in both of its incarnations as the Ditadura Nacional and the Estado Novo) in which an opposition candidate actually stayed in the race until election day. In previous years, whenever the opposition put forward any candidates at all, they were intimidated into withdrawing before the polls opened.
Universal suffrage was not reintroduced until after the Carnation Revolution and the return of democracy in 1974.
^ abJames Badcock (13 February 2015). "Did Portugal's dictator Salazar order killing of rival?". BBC News.
^"Portugal > History and Events > Date Table > Second Republic".
^ ab"Eleição do Presidente da República". arquivo.museu.presidencia.pt (in Portuguese). Museum of the Presidency of the Republic. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
^"Eleição do Presidente da República". arquivo.museu.presidencia.pt (in Portuguese). Museum of the Presidency of the Republic. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
1958, portuguese, presidential, election, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, news, newspapers, books, s. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources 1958 Portuguese presidential election news newspapers books scholar JSTOR December 2009 Learn how and when to remove this template message Presidential elections were held in Portugal on 8 June 1958 during the authoritarian Estado Novo regime led by Prime Minister Antonio de Oliveira Salazar 1958 Portuguese presidential election 1951 8 June 1958 1965 Turnout77 3 0 1 pp Candidate Americo Tomas Humberto DelgadoParty National Union IndependentPopular vote 765 081 236 057Percentage 76 4 23 6 Map with the most voted candidate by Districts Councils and Overseas Provinces President before electionFrancisco Craveiro LopesNational Union Elected President Americo TomasNational UnionIncumbent President Francisco Craveiro Lopes had clashed with Salazar and did not seek another term either as candidate of the regime or for the opposition which deemed the incumbent president capable of winning the race In Craveiro Lopes place the National Union the sole legal political party levied naval minister Americo Tomas a conservative The democratic opposition backed Air Force General Humberto Delgado who ran as an independent in an attempt to challenge the regime When asked if he would retain Salazar if elected Delgado famously replied Obviously I ll sack him 1 Delgado knew that under Portugal s corporatist constitution the president still had the right to dismiss the prime minister which was effectively the only check on Salazar s power The official tally was 76 4 percent for Tomas and 23 6 percent for Delgado The regime s secret police force PIDE harassed and attacked Delgado voters and supporters and there were many reports of widespread electoral fraud 2 For example Salazar refused to allow opposition representatives to observe the counting of ballots 1 Many neutral observers believe that Delgado would have won in a landslide had Salazar allowed an honest election Nevertheless the results came as a shock to Salazar Leaving nothing to chance in 1959 he had the Constitution amended to transfer the presidential election to the National Assembly which was a pliant tool of the regime As a result the 1958 election would be the only presidential election during the 48 years of the Second Portuguese Republic in both of its incarnations as the Ditadura Nacional and the Estado Novo in which an opposition candidate actually stayed in the race until election day In previous years whenever the opposition put forward any candidates at all they were intimidated into withdrawing before the polls opened Universal suffrage was not reintroduced until after the Carnation Revolution and the return of democracy in 1974 Contents 1 Official Results 1 1 National summary 1 2 Results by district 1 3 Maps 2 References 3 See alsoOfficial Results editNational summary edit Summary of the 8 June 1958 Portuguese presidential election results Candidates Supporting parties First roundVotes Americo Tomas National Union 765 081 76 42Humberto Delgado Independent 236 057 23 58Arlindo Vicente A Portuguese Communist Party left the raceTotal valid 1 001 138 100 00Blank Invalid ballots 340 0 03Total 1 001 478 77 35Registered voters 1 294 779A Candidate left the race in favour of Humberto Delgado Source Forum Historia Elections in Portugal 3 Vote share First RoundAmerico Tomas 76 42 Humberto Delgado 23 58 Blank Invalid 0 03 Results by district edit District Tomas DelgadoVotes Votes Aveiro 40 087 69 43 17 651 30 57 Beja 14 540 86 81 2 209 13 19 Braga 48 813 72 19 18 809 27 81 Braganca 19 534 75 93 6 193 24 07 Castelo Branco 30 783 93 13 2 271 6 87 Coimbra 33 944 71 35 13 629 28 65 Evora 13 101 77 22 3 865 22 78 Faro 22 179 86 69 3 405 13 31 Guarda 29 565 83 17 5 983 16 83 Leiria 33 284 76 14 10 433 23 86 Lisbon 110 939 71 90 43 359 28 10 Portalegre 16 542 81 27 3 812 18 73 Porto 69 174 66 10 35 473 33 90 Santarem 37 645 64 22 20 974 35 78 Setubal 12 973 70 57 5 409 29 43 Viana do Castelo 20 797 73 91 7 342 26 09 Vila Real 26 899 85 62 4 519 14 38 Viseu 46 692 85 19 8 117 14 81 Angra do Heroismo 11 255 99 72 32 0 28 Funchal 16 024 85 59 2 698 14 41 Ponta Delgada 13 796 95 25 688 4 75 Angola 22 295 67 71 10 630 32 29 Cape Verde 13 191 97 67 314 2 33 Guinea 1 624 79 07 430 20 93 Macau 1 507 100 00 0 0 00 Mozambique 13 385 61 29 8 454 38 71 Portuguese India 16 773 95 64 765 4 36 Sao Tome and Principe 5 249 100 00 0 0 00 Timor 1 853 100 00 0 0 00 Source 4 3 Maps edit nbsp Strongest candidate by municipality Continental Portugal only References edit a b James Badcock 13 February 2015 Did Portugal s dictator Salazar order killing of rival BBC News Portugal gt History and Events gt Date Table gt Second Republic a b Eleicao do Presidente da Republica arquivo museu presidencia pt in Portuguese Museum of the Presidency of the Republic Retrieved 12 June 2023 Eleicao do Presidente da Republica arquivo museu presidencia pt in Portuguese Museum of the Presidency of the Republic Retrieved 12 June 2023 See also editPresident of Portugal Portugal Politics of Portugal Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title 1958 Portuguese presidential election amp oldid 1201113836, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
