AnÃbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal António Cavaco Silva? / I [ ɐniβal kɐvaku silvɐ ] ( born July 15, 1939 in Boliqueime in the municipality of Loulé, Algarve ) is a Portuguese conservative politician, economist and current President of Portugal.
Education and professional experience
Cavaco Silva is the son of a gas station attendant from a small village in the Algarve and grew up in modest circumstances. After visiting the higher commercial school, he studied economics, made in Mozambique his military service and then taught in Lisbon economics and political economy. Shortly before the Carnation Revolution, he went to York and a PhD on "Taxes and the oil crisis."
He then taught at the Catholic University of Portugal and the New University of Lisbon, and was Director of the Division of Research and Statistics at the Portuguese National Bank ( Banco de Portugal).
After his temporary retirement from politics in 1995, he took up teaching at the Catholic University and was back on again consultant at the National Bank ( see below).
Cavaco Silva has published numerous books and articles on economic topics, and is a staunch advocate of free enterprise and the revitalization of the economy due to private initiatives.
Political activity
After the Carnation Revolution in April 1974, he joined the liberal- conservative People's Democratic Party ( PPD) of Francisco Sá Carneiro, which was renamed in 1976 in Social Democratic Party ( Partido Social Democrata (PSD ) ). 1980 to 1981 he was Director of Finance and Planning Minister in the cabinet of Sá Carneiro. During this time he gained a reputation as a liberal economic reformer. After Sá Carneiros death, he resigned from the Cabinet and was a member of the National Planning Council. In addition, he accepted a professorship at the University of Lisbon.
After fierce intra-party power struggles, he was elected on May 20, 1985 unexpectedly narrow majority chairman of the PSD. The ministers of the PSD then withdrew from the coalition cabinet of Mário Soares.
Prime Minister 1985-1995
He was November 6, 1985 to October 28, 1995 Prime Minister of the country. He succeeded twice to obtain an absolute majority in the Portuguese Parliament. His ten-year tenure is the longest in the history of the democratically elected Prime Minister of Portugal.
Radical economic reform, tax cuts and the intensive economic development by the European Union after the accession in 1986 favored in Cavacos Silva's first term, economic growth in Portugal. However, he led a minority government with the connivance of the Partido Renovador Democrático (PRD; German Democratic Renewal Party). In most polls, he could rely on the votes of the populist right-wing Popular Party (PP ), yet he lacked 16 votes with the majority. Cavaco Silva was able to govern only if the 45 deputies of the PRD abstentions. 1987 broke out in Portugal, a violent dispute over the labor laws. In this case, however, the PRD withdrew his confidence and after a vote of no confidence put President Mário Soares, Cavaco Silva's longtime adversary, a new election.
The elections of 1987 brought Cavaco Silva a completely unexpected landslide victory. Its PSD won 50.2 percent of the vote and 148 of the 250 parliamentary seats, while the Socialists had only 60 seats. Communists and PRD received only four or seven seats. It was the first time in the history of Portugal, that a party could win an absolute majority. The era of political instability and uncertain majorities in Portugal seemed to have ended. Cavaco Silva stuck to his liberal economic policies. Portugal gave the last place on the prosperity scale of the European Community in Greece. But it also stirred Resistance: From 1988 to the spring of 1989, therefore, a wave of strikes shook the country. Cavaco Silva's opponents accused him of arrogance and especially an authoritarian style.
In the 1991 elections, Cavaco Silva's PSD was able to repeat the triumph of 1987 with 50.6 percent and 135 of 230 seats in Parliament; the majority fell almost as significantly as four years earlier. In this legislature Cavaco Silva managed to integrate through strict austerity the escudo in the European monetary system - a preliminary decision for inclusion in the Euro - zone. The strict austerity policy, however, was extremely unpopular. They reinforced the recession of the early 1990s with continuing high unemployment and was associated with corruption charges against some ministers. During this time, Cavaco Silva continued his bitter power struggle with President Marío Soares. Worn down by these conflicts to Cavaco Silva decided to abandon his party offices and not to stand in the parliamentary elections of 1995. In the absence of a charismatic personality at the head of the PSD lost the elections on 1 October 1995. During the 2005 general election, he refused to support the PSD candidate Pedro Santana Lopes.
Temporary withdrawal from politics
In 1996 he ran for the office of president, but was clearly beaten by Jorge Sampaio. Then Cavaco Silva retired for now back from the policy. By 2004, he advised the Supervisory Board of the Portuguese National Bank ( Banco de Portugal). After that, he taught as a professor at the Faculty of Economics of the Catholic University of Portugal.
President from 2006
On 20 October 2005 Cavaco Silva declared his candidacy in the presidential election on 22 January 2006, which he had won with 50.6 % in the first ballot. The left parties fielded several candidates, including Manuel Alegre and Cavaco Silva's old adversary Mário Soares.
Second Term of 2011
Cavaco Silva was confirmed on 23 January 2011 at the office. He received 53% of all votes, while his challenger, the Socialist Manuel Alegre, only about 20 % of the vote could chalk up. He entered the second term on March 9 with a speech criticized by the government camp.
Private
Cavaco Silva is married to a professor of Portuguese language and culture Maria Cavaco Silva since 1963 and has a son and a daughter. He was in his youth national champion in the 400 meter hurdles; in the meantime, but his sporting ambition limited to tennis, chess and gardening.