For 50 years, Partido Socialista (PS) has delivered progress for Portugal, moving it towards freedom, democracy, equality, and Europe.
This weekend, the President of the Party of European Socialists Stefan Löfven took part in celebrations marking five decades of PS.
President Löfven joined the Secretary General of the PS and Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez and hundreds of progressive activists and citizens for the event at the Pavilhão Rosa Mota, Porto. Photographs from the event are available to view on Flickr.
Last week – exactly 50 years after the PS was founded – German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and former Spanish Prime Minister Felipe González joined Prime Minister Costa and others for a commemorative dinner in Lisbon.
At the last Portuguese general election, PS won an absolute majority and secured a third consecutive mandate for Prime Minister Costa. Under PS, Portugal’s unemployment rate has fallen, wages are rising, affordable housing measures are being introduced, and new targeted actions to support families facing current inflation are helping thousands of Portuguese citizens every day.
PS was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel by socialists who had been exiled by Portugal’s far-right Estado Novo regime. PS became one of the symbols of the struggle for democracy, which culminated in the Carnation Revolution in 1974. From there, PS guided the creation of the Portuguese constitution, the national health system, and the modern Portuguese welfare state. It was the PS prime minister Mário Soares who formally presented Portugal’s request to join the European Economic Community, the forerunner of today’s European Union.
