# 6th Legislature of the Third Portuguese Republic

The 6th Legislature of the Third Portuguese Republic (Portuguese: VI Legislatura da Terceira República Portuguesa) ran from 4 November 1991 to 26 October 1995. This legislature saw a reduction in the total number of elected MPs, from 250 to 230, following a constitutional review in 1989. The composition of the Assembly of the Republic, the legislative body of Portugal, was determined by the results of the 1991 legislative election, held on 6 October 1991.

## Election

The 7th Portuguese legislative election was held on 6 October 1991. In the election, the Social Democratic Party (PPD/PSD) won for the third consecutive time and renewed the absolute majority achieved four years earlier.
| Party | Party | Assembly of the Republic | Assembly of the Republic | Assembly of the Republic | Assembly of the Republic |
| Party | Party | Votes | % | Seats | +/− |
| | PPD/PSD | 2,902,351 | 50.60 | 135 | –13 |
| | PS | 1,670,758 | 29.13 | 72 | +12 |
| | CDU | 504,583 | 8.80 | 17 | –14 |
| | CDS | 254,317 | 4.43 | 5 | +1 |
| | PSN | 96,096 | 1.68 | 1 | +1 |
| | Other/blank/invalid | 307,326 | 5.36 | 0 | –1 |
| Total | Total | 5,735,431 | 100.00 | 230 | –20 |

## Composition (1991–1995)

| Party | Party | Parliamentary group leader | Elected | Elected | Dissolution | Dissolution |
| Party | Party | Parliamentary group leader | Seats | % | Seats | % |
| | PPD/PSD | Montalvão Machado (Lisbon) (1991–1992) Duarte Lima (Bragança) (1992–1995) José Pacheco Pereira (Porto) (1995) | 135 | 58.7 | 135 | 58.7 |
| | PS | Jaime Gama (Lisbon) (1991–1992) António de Almeida Santos (Porto) (1992–1993) Jaime Gama (Lisbon) (1993–1995) | 72 | 31.3 | 72 | 31.3 |
| | PCP | Carlos Carvalhas (Lisbon) (1991–1992) Octávio Teixeira (Setúbal) (1992–1995) | 15 | 6.5 | 14 | 6.1 |
| | CDS | António Lobo Xavier (Porto) | 5 | 2.2 | 4 | 1.7 |
| | PEV | Isabel Castro (Lisbon) | 2 | 0.9 | 2 | 0.9 |
| | PSN | Manuel Sérgio (Lisbon) | 1 | 0.4 | 1 | 0.4 |
| | Independent | Mário Tomé (Lisbon) Diogo Freitas do Amaral (Lisbon) | 0 | 0.0 | 2 | 0.8 |
| Total | Total | Total | 230 | 100.0 | 230 | 100.0 |

### Changes

* Mário Tomé, Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) → Independent: A member of the Popular Democratic Union (UDP), he left the PCP caucus at the beginning of the legislature.
* Diogo Freitas do Amaral, Democratic Social Center (CDS) → Independent: Left the CDS parliamentary group, and the party itself, following deep disagreements with the new leader, Manuel Monteiro, elected in 1992.

## Election for President of the Assembly of the Republic

To be elected, a candidate needs to reach a minimum of 116 votes. Two ballots were needed to elected a new President. António Barbosa de Melo, from the Social Democratic Party, faced MP Alberto Oliveira e Silva, from the Socialist Party, in both rounds. On the second round, Barbosa de Melo was elected by a narrow majority:
Election of the President of the Assembly of the Republic :
| 1st Ballot → | 1st Ballot → | 7 November 1991 | 7 November 1991 |
| Required majority → | Required majority → | 116 out of 230 | 116 out of 230 |
| | António Barbosa de Melo (PPD/PSD) | 109 / 230 | N |
| | Alberto Oliveira e Silva (PS) | 71 / 230 | N |
| | Blank ballots | 25 / 230 | 25 / 230 |
| | Invalid ballots | 14 / 230 | 14 / 230 |
| | Absentees | 11 / 230 | 11 / 230 |
| Sources: ||||
Election of the President of the Assembly of the Republic :
| 2nd Ballot → | 2nd Ballot → | 7 November 1991 | 7 November 1991 |
| Required majority → | Required majority → | 116 out of 230 | 116 out of 230 |
| | António Barbosa de Melo (PPD/PSD) | 117 / 230 | Y |
| | Alberto Oliveira e Silva (PS) | 62 / 230 | N |
| | Blank ballots | 31 / 230 | 31 / 230 |
| | Invalid ballots | 0 / 230 | 0 / 230 |
| | Absentees | 20 / 230 | 20 / 230 |
| Sources: ||||