2008 Azorean regional election

Following their absence from the regional assembly between 2004 and 2008, the Communist Party (PCP), under their leader Aníbal C. Pires returned to campaign in a new coalition, with the Ecologist Party "The Greens". Emboldened by minor successes in the Autonomous Region of Madeira during the 2007 election, the coalition was seen as new way of reviving the party. Leadership changes and challenges Social Democratic Party After the defeat of the PSD/CDS–PP coalition in the 2004 regional election, then party leader Victor do Couto Cruz held on to the post for around a year until resigning and calling a leadership ballot for 18 December 2005. Two candidates were on the ballot: Carlos Costa Neves, former party leader between 1997 and 1999 and Américo Natalino Viveiros. Costa Neves was easily elected leader: ==Electoral system==

The Azores regional parliament elects 57 members through a proportional system in which the 9 islands elect a number of MPs proportional to the number of registered voters. MPs are allocated by using the d'Hondt method. For the first time, 5 members were also elected from a Compensation constituency. ==Issues==

The leader of the PSD, Carlos Costa Neves, promised to "move the attitude" in the party, with the objective of recuperating Azorean confidence in the party, after their defeat in the 2000 elections. Following his election to the party, Neves had defended a reorganization of the party, the mobilization and dialogue with militants, in addition to the development of innovative proposals, and noted his direct election as an affirmation of the new party politics. The communist candidate recorded that the Prime Minister, during his election support of PS leader Carlos César, especially on milk quotes and expansion of the Azorean portion EEZ was mute. On 21 March 2008, the CDU candidate defended a new plan to subsidize the football teams of the region, after a visit to Terceira and Graciosa, suggesting that many of the supports reach the teams late, requiring them to request loans to support inter-island travel. At the same time, Pires questioned the financing of the new hospital in Angra do Heroísmo, which he considered "obscure and unnecessary because the public sector is losing money to the private sector". Cesar shrugged off the commentary, noting his defense that the new African Command (AFRICOM) should remain at Lakes, and requesting a quick response from the national government supporting the suggestion. ==Political parties==

The political parties presented candidates lists for the campaign, where 225,211 electors could elect 57 deputies to the Legislative Assembly. Os partidos e coligações que concorreram às eleições para a Assembleia legislativa da Região Autónoma dos Açores em 2008 foram os seguintes, listados por ordem alfabética: • Earth Party (MPT), leader Manuel Moniz. • Democratic Party of the Atlantic (PDA), leader José Ventura. The party ran a campaign that included the support for a mandatory local history program in the regions curriculum; visiting a school in Ribeira Grande, the party leader provided a proposal to extend local history to regional schools, and improve the student evaluations. As Ventura noted: "...the student who is diligent and disciplined...at the end of the school year must have learned something", referring to problems in local schooling, that permitted some students advancing without a comprehensive understanding; • Left Bloc (BE), leader Zuraida Soares. • People's Monarchist Party (PPM), leader Paulo Estêvâo • People's Party (CDS–PP), leader Artur Lima. The party promoted itself as the alternative to the natural opposition (PSD), with initiatives targeted to improve the acquisition of pharmaceutical medicines by seniors (COMPAMID), increased promotional inter-island fares (including increased flights between Terceira and combat against termite infestations, in addition to public works to the Azorean Centre of Oncology and initiatives for renewable energy on the island of Terceira. • Socialist Party (PS), leader Carlos César. • Social Democratic Party (PSD), leader Carlos Costa Neves. • Unitary Democratic Coalition (PCP-PEV), in 2008 a permanent coalition between the Communist Party of Portugal (PCP) and "The Greens" was reached that allowed the integration of candidates at the regional elections. The chairman of the Azorean CDU coalition was the regional chairman for the PCP, Aníbal C. Pires, who presented his candidature, with a promise for a new policy on maritime and aviation for the region; ==Opinion polls==

The Regional Assembly fractured during this election, with a multi-political representation replacing the three traditional parties in parliament: the traditional parties (PS, PSD and CDS-PP) were replaced by six parties (PS, PSD, CDS-PP, BE, CDU and PPM) in the regional assembly. Part of these changes were due to the constituency compensation () where several of the smallest parties were able to obtain representation: the BE elected two parliamentarians through this method, while each of the remaining parties obtained one (the exception being the PPM, which was seen as a reactionary vote for the politics that isolated the small island). The Socialist Party under the direction of Carlos César obtained a plurality of the votes (49.96%), a reduced mandate since the 2004 elections, when his team won 57% of the total. Thanking his candidates and militants in the party he indicated his belief that a "clean campaign and without critics" was promoted by his party, "It was a campaign of ideas, with young people, which indicates a renovation of the Party that was likely to present new ideas and proposals for the positive, that will convince the electorate that the best opposition is us." Following the results, Aníbel Pires congratulated his forces by noting their increase in six electoral circles, and success in returning to Parliament, through the constituency compensation formula. Their results (one seat) were less than their rivals the BE, which he noted was "not relevant at the moment", but that the "voice of the Azorean people, the workers and the questions of cohesion" had returned to Parliament. Reaffirming that the "compromise that [they] made with the Azorean people will finally be completed", he added that the Socialists were unable to obtain an absolute majority, that they should "come off their pedestal and retake the capacity to hear the Azorean people". For the first time, the PPM Partido Popular Monárquico (Popular Monarchist Party) was able to obtain representation in parliament, with its lone seat for Corvo. Meanwhile, the PDA, the only locally based and autonomy-oriented party, fell below its expectations with only 619 votes (roughly equivalent to 0.69%) of the popular vote. These results would fracture the party leadership. Ultimately, as Eduardo Correia indicated, the true victor in the Azores elections was the growth in the abstention rate, which achieved its highest level in the 2008 elections since the Carnation Revolution instituted free democratic elections. With 53.24% abstaining, little more than 90000 resident exercised their democratic rights, of the 193.000 registered voters. Summary of votes and seats Distribution by constituency == Notes==