Report No. 255

(ii) Portugal

3.15.1. Like Germany, Portugal too regulates the ideology of parties through Article 51 of its Constitution, prohibiting regional or religious objectives and requiring internal democracy. Article 51(3)-(5) state:

3. Without prejudice to the philosophy or ideology that underlies their manifestoes, political parties may not employ names that contain expressions which are directly related to any religion or church, or emblems that can be confused with national or religious symbols.

4. No party may be formed with a name or manifesto objectives that show it has a regional nature or scope.

5. Political parties must be governed by the principles of democratic transparency, organisation and management, and participation by all their members.

3.15.2. The governing law regulating these features is the Organisational Law no. 2/2003 (or the Law governing Political Parties). Through Article 2, it regulates, and lays down eight purposes of political parties, requiring them for instance to contribute to the promotion of the fundamental rights and freedoms. Articles 5 and 6 state that political parties must be internally governed by principles of democracy and transparency. Nevertheless, Article 18 permits the "judicial abolition" of party at the request of the Public Prosecutor's Office if it is deemed to be "an organisation that is racist or displays a fascist ideology".146

146. Organisational Law No. 2/2008, The Law Governing Political Parties,
<http://www.parlamento.pt/Legislacao/Documents/LawgoverningPoliticalParties_EN.pdf>