The Earth Party Movement – Earth Party Movimento o Partido da Terra – Partido da Terra | |
|---|---|
 | |
| President | Pedro Pimenta |
| Founded | 12 August 1993 |
| Split from | People's Monarchist Party[1] |
| Headquarters | Lisbon |
| Youth wing | Juventude pela Terra |
| Ideology | |
| Political position | Centre-right[1][4] |
| National affiliation | AD |
| International affiliation | World Ecological Parties[5] |
| Colours | Green |
| Assembly of the Republic | 0 / 230 |
| European Parliament | 0 / 21 |
| Regional Parliaments | 0 / 104 |
| Local government (Mayors) | 0 / 308 |
| Local government (Parishes) | 1 / 3,216 |
| Election symbol | |
.png) | |
| Website | |
www | |
TheEarth Party (Portuguese:Partido da Terra,pronounced[pɐɾˈtiðuðɐˈtɛʁɐ]), previously calledThe Earth Party Movement (Movimento Partido da Terra, abbreviatedMPT, hence calledMPT – Partido da Terra), is agreen-conservative[2]political party in Portugal, founded on 12 August 1993. Its main political priorities are the promotion of environmental-friendly policies and the preservation of the national and cultural heritage of Portugal and of the remainingPortuguese-language countries.[2]
Between 2005 and 2009, the party had two Deputies in theAssembly of the Republic: Pedro Quartin Graça and Luís Carloto Marques, elected on the lists of theSocial Democratic Party (PSD), following an agreement with its then leader,Pedro Santana Lopes.
The President of the party is Pedro Pimenta, a night watchman, elected in 2020.
The party has participated in a number of coalitions with the major centre-right parties in Portugal, namely the PSD andPeople's Party (CDS–PP). The MPT was a member of theEuropean People's Party group during theeighth term of the European Parliament,[6] having previously been a member of theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE)[7] and an observer member of theLiberal International.[8]
In April 2009, the party announced in a joint press conference with the leader of the pan-European allianceLibertas.euDeclan Ganley that it would run for the2009 European Parliament election with an open electoral list under the banner ofLibertas.[9] While not against European integration, MPT demands more accountability and transparency from theEuropean Union, and the pursuit of a referendum on theLisbon Treaty in Portugal.[10] In the elections, MPT received 24,062 votes (0.67% of the votes).
For the2009 Portuguese legislative election, MPT formed a coalition with theHumanist Party on mainland Portugal that received 0.22% of the votes. Including MPT's votes inAzores andMadeira, where they ran a list on their own, they reached 0.28% nationwide. However, the 2009 local elections were a success in terms of the number of people elected, as MPT elected two councilors, 17 municipal assembly members and 47 parish councilor posts.
In the2011 Portuguese legislative election, MPT stood under its own open lists throughout Portugal and achieved 0.41% of the national vote, catapulting it from 14th to 8th place overall in comparison to the2009 Portuguese legislative election. This was largely due to its more professional campaigning – it employed a campaign manager for the first time – and the inclusion in its lists of a number of popular celebrities.
In the2011 Madeira regional election the Party elected one Legislative Assembly member despite a fall in its number of votes of 0.3%.
MPT achieved its first major electoral success independent of any coalition, in the2014 European Parliament election, winning 7.14% of the vote and electing twoMEPs: the former chairman of the Portuguese Bar AssociationAntónio Marinho e Pinto (who subsequently left the party due to personal differences with his fellow MEP) and the lawyerJosé Inácio Faria.
On 21 November 2014, the MPT was admitted as a full member of theAlliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) at the ALDE congress inLisbon.[11]
MPT held its IX Party Congress on 22 November 2014 in Lisbon, where incumbent president John Rosas Baker announced his intention not to stand for reelection and was replaced byMEPJosé Inácio Faria.
The party contested the2015 legislative election under its own open lists but, in what was widely considered a fiasco, failed to improve on its2009 Portuguese legislative election result, gaining less than 0.5% of the popular vote and failing to elect any MPs to theAssembly of the Republic.
On 21 and 22 October 2018, the MPT had its bank accounts blocked due to a court decision and financial liabilities. As a consequence, the party fell intoinsolvency. The then-party leader Luís Vicente informed the public about this situation on 21 December 2018.[12]
The2019 legislative elections, which were contested under MPT's own open lists, had a disastrous outcome, with the party losing practically half of its previous votes.
MPT contested the2022 legislative elections under its own open lists, ending up losing more than half of the votes previously held for the second consecutive time.
| Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1995 | Gonçalo Ribeiro Telles | 8,235 | 0.1 (#10) | 0 / 230 | No seats | |
| 1999 | 19,938 | 0.4 (#7) | 0 / 230 |  0 | No seats | |
| 2002 | 15,540 | 0.3 (#7) | 0 / 230 | 0 | No seats | |
| 2005 | Paulo Trancoso | w.PPD/PSD | 2 / 230 |  2 | Opposition | |
| 2009 | Pedro Quartin Graça [pt] | Ecology and Humanism | 0 / 230 |  2 | No seats | |
| 2011 | 22,705 | 0.4 (#8) | 0 / 230 | 0 | No seats | |
| 2015 | José Inácio Faria | 22,596 | 0.4 (#11) | 0 / 230 | 0 | No seats |
| 2019 | Manuel Ramos | 12,952 | 0.2 (#14) | 0 / 230 | 0 | No seats |
| 2022 | Pedro Pimenta | 6,437 | 0.1 (#16) | 0 / 230 | 0 | No seats |
| 2024 | Alternative 21 | 0 / 230 | 0 | No seats | ||
| 2025 | 478 | 0.0 (#19) | 0 / 230 | 0 | No seats | |
| Election | List Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/– | EP Group |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | 12,955 | 0.4 (#8) | 0 / 25 | – | ||
| 1999 | Paulo Trancoso | 13,924 | 0.4 (#8) | 0 / 25 | 0 | |
| 2004 | Luís Filipe Marques | 13,671 | 0.4 (#9) | 0 / 24 | 0 | |
| 2009 | Pedro Quartin Graça [pt] | 24,062 | 0.7 (#8) | 0 / 22 | 0 | |
| 2014 | António Marinho e Pinto | 234,788 | 7.2 (#4) | 2 / 21 | 2 | ALDE |
| 2019 | Paulo de Morais | withNC | 0 / 21 | 2 | – | |
| 2024 | Manuel Carreira | 4,610 | 0.1 (#15) | 0 / 21 | 0 | |
| Region | Election | Leader | Votes | % | Seats | +/- | Government |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Azores | 2024 | José Olívio Arranhado | Alternative 21 | 0 / 57 | 0 | No seats | |
| Madeira | 2024 | Valter Rodrigues | 577 | 0.4 (#13) | 0 / 47 | 0 | No seats |
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)| Parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic (230) |
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| Legislative Assembly of the Azores Autonomous Region (57) |
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| Legislative Assembly of the Madeira Autonomous Region (47) |
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| European Parliament (21) | |
| Non-parliamentary parties | |
