ON THE WAY TO THE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF AUTONOMY (2)

Half a century ago, the post-revolutionary year of 1975 was decisive in the political life of the Azores, between Portuguese democracy in 1974 and Azorean autonomy in 1976.

On the one hand, there were calls for independence. First, the MAPA (Movement for the Self-Determination of the Azorean People) and then, above all, the FLA (Azores Liberation Front), in partnership with the “Azorean Committee 75” among our North American diaspora, announced a clandestine government and a liberation army and issued an ultimatum to the Portuguese government. Meanwhile, communist headquarters were being attacked and socialist buildings were being blown up.

On the other hand, autonomy was being prepared. The district organizations of the PPD, the PS, and even the CDS, as before the “Group of Eleven” and then the Regional Junta itself, presented their draft statutes for the autonomy of the Azores, which would culminate in the contested work of the Eighth Commission of the Constituent Assembly.

Party leaders Pinto Balsemão, Magalhães Mota, Miller Guerra, and Freitas do Amaral arrived from Lisbon; President Costa Gomes and Prime Minister Vasco Gonçalves remained in Lisbon; and the events of March 11 and November 25 unfolded in Lisbon. Nothing would be the same as before.

From the Autonomous Districts of Ponta Delgada, Angra do Heroísmo, and Horta to the Autonomous Region of the Azores, 1974 opened the door, 1975 took the first step, and 1976 began the journey.

The prehistory of the autonomous regime began on April 25, 1974, with the national revolution of Portuguese democracy, and ended on September 8, 1976, with the first government of Azorean autonomy.

Other important events took place during that historic year of 1976:

On April 2, the creation of the Autonomous Region of the Azores was decreed in Title VIII of the new Constitution of the Portuguese Republic;

On June 1, the new decree establishing the Provisional Statute of the Autonomous Region of the Azores was published;

On July 21, the proclamation of the constitution of the first Regional Assembly of the Azores;

On September 4, the official opening of the Regional Assembly of the Azores by the President of the Republic, António Ramalho Eanes.

But among the dates that mark and motivate the decisive years of Azorean autonomy, June 27, 1976 stands out, when the Azoreans of the nine islands, for the first time in five centuries of history, elected the first representative body of the Autonomous Region of the Azores.

This is where it all began. Almost half a century has passed.

We are about to celebrate 50 years of Political Autonomy in 2026. And here we can anticipate an electoral assessment, comparing the Azores with Madeira.

Fifty-one years ago, the democratic revolution of April 25, 1974, in Portugal was the prelude to the Political Autonomy of the Azores and Madeira.

Two years later, on April 2, 1976, the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic enshrined the Political-Administrative Regime of the autonomous regions of the Azores and Madeira.

And two months later, on June 27, 1976, the first elections for the legislative assemblies of the two autonomous regions were held.

The PPD/PSD wins both elections. In the Azores, it obtained 55% of the votes and elected 27 of the 43 deputies. In Madeira, it obtained 59% of the votes and elected 29 of the 41 deputies. In the Azores, the PS elected 14 deputies and the CDS two. In Madeira, the PS elected eight deputies, the CDS two, and the UDP two.

As a result of these elections, the first Government of the Azores takes office on September 8, 1976, in Ponta Delgada, chaired by João Bosco Mota Amaral, and the first Government of Madeira takes office on October 1, 1976, in Funchal, chaired by Jaime Ornelas Camacho.

In the Azores, Mota Amaral led the first five governments, until 1995.

In Madeira, Ornelas Camacho presided over the government only during the first half of the first legislative term, being replaced in 1978 by Alberto João Jardim.

In Madeira, João Jardim presided over 10 consecutive governments until 2015, succeeded by Miguel Albuquerque as president of the last five governments.

In the Azores, Alberto Romão Madruga da Costa presided over the sixth government from 1995 to 1996; Carlos César presided over four governments from 1996 to 2012; Vasco Cordeiro presided over two governments, from 2012 to 2020; and José Manuel Bolieiro presided over the last two governments, in 2020 and 2024.

Thus, in the two regional governments, the longest serving presidents were Alberto João Jardim with 37 years, Mota Amaral with 19, and Carlos César with 16.

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José Andrade is the Regional Director of Communities of the Autonomous Region of the Azores

Excerpt from the conference “Azores (and Madeira): 50 years of Political Autonomy” presented on March 29, 2025, in Montreal, Canada.

Translation by Diniz Borges