Deputy Prime Minister of Portugal

The deputy prime minister of Portugal is the second in command to the prime minister, assuming the responsibilities of the premiership when the prime minister is absent or incapable of exercising power.

Deputy Prime Minister of the Portuguese Republic
Vice-Primeiro-Ministro da República Portuguesa
Government logo
Incumbent Vacant office since 26 November 2015 (2015-11-26)
Government of Portugal Council of Ministers of Portugal
Type	Head of government
Member of	Council of Ministers Superior Council of National Defence
Reports to	Parliament President
Residence	Laranjeiras Palace
Seat	Lisbon, Portugal
Appointer	President
Term length	Four years no term limits
Constituting instrument	Constitution of Portugal (1976)
Inaugural holder	Abílio Passos e Sousa
Formation	11 August 1927 (1927-08-11)
Website	portugal.gov.pt

The office of deputy prime minister is currently vacant, having been last held by Paulo Portas from 2013 until 2015. As deputy head of the executive branch, the Deputy Prime Minister replaces the Prime Minister in the event of the latter's incapacity or death. The Constitution of Portugal provides for the existence of one or more deputy prime ministers. The deputy prime minister can accumulate the function of head of government with the portfolios of one or more ministries.

During Paulo Portas' term as deputy prime minister, the official residence was in Laranjeiras Palace, in Lisbon.

History

Laranjeiras Palace, the official residence of the Deputy Prime Minister

The first Deputy Prime Minister of Portugal was Abílio Passos e Sousa, for less than a month in August 1927, during the government of Óscar Carmona. After that, the office was left vacant until, during the V Provisional Government, led by Vasco Gonçalves, two Deputy Prime Ministers were appointed, José Teixeira Ribeiro and António Arnão Metello.

After that, the office of Deputy Prime Minister was usually attributed to the leader of the second largest party in case of a coalition government. That was the case with Diogo Freitas do Amaral within the Democratic Alliance from 1980 until 1983, Carlos Mota Pinto and Rui Machete during the Central Bloc from 1983 until 1985, and Paulo Portas within the PSD/CDS coalition from 2013 until 2015.

Designations

• Deputy President of the Ministry: 11 August 1927 – 26 August 1927
• Deputy Prime Minister: 8 August 1975 – 19 September 1975
• Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs and European Integration: 22 November 1978 – 1 August 1979
• Deputy Prime Minister: 3 January 1980 – present

List of deputy prime ministers

#	Portrait	Name	Took office	Left office	Party		Prime Minister
1		Abílio Passos e Sousa (1881–1966)	11 August 1927	26 August 1927		Ind.		Óscar Carmona
–	Vacant office		26 August 1927	8 August 1975
								José Vicente de Freitas
								Artur Ivens Ferraz
								Domingos Oliveira
								António de Oliveira Salazar
								Marcelo Caetano
								Adelino da Palma Carlos
								Vasco Gonçalves
2		José Teixeira Ribeiro (1908–1997)	8 August 1975	19 September 1975		Ind.
		António Arnão Metello (1938–2008)				Ind.
–	Vacant office		19 September 1975	22 November 1978				José Pinheiro de Azevedo
								Mário Soares
								Alfredo Nobre da Costa
3		Manuel Jacinto Nunes (1926–2014)	22 November 1978	1 August 1979		Ind.		Carlos Mota Pinto
–	Vacant office		1 August 1979	3 January 1980				Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo
4		Diogo Freitas do Amaral (1942–2019)	3 January 1980	9 January 1981		CDS		Francisco Sá Carneiro
								Diogo Freitas do Amaral
–	Vacant office		9 January 1981	4 September 1981				Francisco Pinto Balsemão
4		Diogo Freitas do Amaral (1942–2019)	4 September 1981	25 February 1983		CDS
5		Ricardo Bayão Horta (b. 1936)	25 February 1983	9 June 1983		CDS
6		Carlos Mota Pinto (1936–1985)	9 June 1983	15 February 1985		PSD		Mário Soares
7		Rui Machete (b. 1940)	15 February 1985	6 November 1985		PSD
–	Vacant office		6 November 1985	17 August 1987				Aníbal Cavaco Silva
8		Eurico de Melo (1925–2012)	17 August 1987	5 January 1990		PSD
–	Vacant office		5 January 1990	24 July 2013
								António Guterres
								José Manuel Durão Barroso
								Pedro Santana Lopes
								José Sócrates
								Pedro Passos Coelho
9		Paulo Portas (b. 1962)	24 July 2013	26 November 2015		CDS
–	Vacant office		26 November 2015	Incumbent				António Costa
								Luís Montenegro

External links

• Official website of the Deputy Prime Minister

See also

• Prime Minister of Portugal