Pedro Santana Lopes

Order:	14th Prime Minister of Portugal (since the Portuguese Constitution of 1976)
Term of Office	29 June 2004 - 12 March 2005
Predecessor:	José Manuel Durão Barroso
Successor:	José Sócrates
Date of Birth	June 29, 1956
Place of Birth:	Lisbon
Political Party:	Social Democratic

Pedro Miguel de Santana Lopes (pron. IPA /'pe.ðɾu sɐ̃.'tɐ.nɐ 'lɔ.pɨʃ/; born June 29, 1956) is a Portuguese politician, and was Prime Minister of Portugal from 2004 to 2005. He is currently a Member of the Portuguese Parliament. Pedro Santana Lopes This work is copyrighted. ... In Portugal, the post of Prime Minister (Portuguese: Primeiro-Ministro) is the head of the countrys Government. ... The first Portuguese Constitution was drafted in 1822. ... June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... March 12 is the 71st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (72nd in Leap years). ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... This article needs to be updated. ... José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa (born in Vilar de Maçada, 6 September 1957) is a Portuguese politician, secretary-general of the Socialist Party and the current prime minister of Portugal, since March 12, 2005. ... June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... District Lisbon Mayor   - Party Carmona Rodrigues PSD Area 84. ... Political parties in Portugal lists political parties in Portugal. ... The Social Democratic Party (Portuguese: Partido Social Democrata) is a political party in Portugal. ... Pronunciation refers to: the way a word or a language is usually spoken; the manner in which someone utters a word. ... The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is a system of phonetic notation devised by linguists to accurately and uniquely represent each of the wide variety of sounds (phones or phonemes) used in spoken human language. ... June 29 is the 180th day of the year (181st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 185 days remaining. ... 1956 (MCMLVI) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In Portugal, the post of Prime Minister (Portuguese: Primeiro-Ministro) is the head of the countrys Government. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Assembly of the Republic (Portuguese: Assembleia da República) is the Portuguese parliament; its building in Lisbon is referred to as Palácio de São Bento (Saint Benedicts Palace). ...

Biography

Santana Lopes was born in Lisbon, and graduated in Law from the University of Lisbon, where he was leader of the students Union. He joined the Portuguese Social Democratic Party (PSD) in 1976, and has remained a member ever since. District Lisbon Mayor   - Party Carmona Rodrigues PSD Area 84. ... The University of Lisbon (Universidade de Lisboa) is a leading public university in Lisbon, Portugal, and is composed by eight faculties. ... The Social Democratic Party (Portuguese: Partido Social Democrata) is a political party in Portugal. ... 1976 (MCMLXXVI) is a leap year starting on Thursday (link will take you to calendar). ...

In 1979, he became legal advisor to Prime Minister Francisco Sá Carneiro, and has presented himself as a follower of his for all his political life. This page refers to the year 1979. ... Francisco Manuel Lumbrales de Sá Carneiro (Oporto July 19, 1934 - Camarate December 4, 1980), was Prime Minister of Portugal for eleven months in 1980. ...

In 1986, he became Assistant State Secretary to Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva, an office he left the next year to lead to PSD list to the European Parliament, where he remained for two years of his five-year-term. 1986 (MCMLXXXVI in Roman) is a common year starting on Wednesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Aníbal António Cavaco Silva (pron. ... The European Parliament is the parliamentary body of the European Union (EU), directly elected by EU citizens once every five years. ...

In 1991, Cavaco Silva appointed him Secretary of State for Culture. Leaving office, he became president of Sporting Clube de Portugal, and later the Mayor of Figueira da Foz (the only time that he has ever completed a term in office) and then of Lisbon. During this period he also earned a living as a sports and political commentator; in 1998, he announced his withdrawal from politics, following a comical sketch in private TV station which presented him and his private life in a very unfavourable light. 1991 (MCMXCI in Roman) is a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar. ... In several countries, Secretary of State is a senior government position. ... For other uses, see Culture (disambiguation). ... Sporting Clube de Portugal (pron. ... A mayor (from the Latin maÄ«or, meaning larger,greater) is the politician who serves as chief executive official of some types of municipalities. ... Figueira da Foz, is a city of the district of Coimbra, in Portugal. ... District Lisbon Mayor   - Party Carmona Rodrigues PSD Area 84. ... 1998 (MCMXCVIII in Roman) is a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar, and was designated the International Year of the Ocean. ...

After three unsuccessful attempts to become leader of his party, Santana Lopes finally rose to vice-president under José Manuel Durão Barroso, a man who had once called him "a mix of [astrologer] Zandinga and [sports commentator] Gabriel Alves." When Durão Barroso July 2004 resigned from his office as Prime Minister and party leader to take up the Presidency of the European Commission in early July 2004, Santana Lopes became the head of the PSD. Because the PSD was the major partner in the coalition government at the time, the Party proposed Santana Lopes for the post of Prime Minister, a position to which he was formally invited by president Jorge Sampaio on July 12, 2004. This article needs to be updated. ... 2004 : January - February - March - April - May - June - July - August - September - October - November - December See also: July 2004 in sports Deaths in July • 31 David B. Haight • 29 Francis Crick • 29 Nafisa Joseph • 23 Joe Cahill • 23 Mehmood • 23 Illinois Jacquet • 23 Carlos Paredes • 22 Sacha Distel • 21 Jerry Goldsmith • 21... The President of the European Commission is notionally the highest ranking unelected official within the European Union. ... The European Commission (formally the Commission of the European Communities) is the executive body of the European Union. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... A coalition government, or coalition cabinet, is a cabinet in parliamentary government in which several parties cooperate. ... Jorge Fernando Branco de Sampaio (   listen?) is the current Portuguese President of the Republic, elected for a second term in January 14, 2001. ... July 12 is the 193rd day (194th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 172 days remaining. ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Prime Minister

Santana Lopes' leadership was made difficult by a number of inherited economic and political problems. When the PSD had first taken power, the country’s economy was in a poor state, with a rising government-spending deficit. Partially because of policies focused on public expenditure of the previous governments (led by Aníbal Cavaco Silva (PSD) and António Guterres of the Socialist Party) and the early 2000s recession had left the country's economy in a poor state. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit on 11th January 2005, "Portugal became the first country to breach the EU's ‘excessive deficit’ rule with a budget deficit of 4.4% of GDP in 2001, well above the 3% of GDP ceiling set by the EU's Stability and Growth Pact." The situation inherited by Santana Lopes was little better, as the previous government led by Barroso had been able to comply with European Union directives regarding the deficit only by the sale of publicly owned assets. Santana Lopes himself failed to gain a reputation as a competent Prime Minister. His unusual rise to power, as Barroso's successor rather than by election, contributed to these difficulties. Although his appointment was in fact constitutional, he was not a Member of Parliament but only a municipal leader, as the Mayor of Lisbon, and many columnists thus saw him as an illegitimate Prime Minister, a view shared by a large section of the public. Aníbal António Cavaco Silva (pron. ... António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres (pron. ... The Socialist Party (Portuguese: Partido Socialista, pron. ... The Early 2000s recession was felt in mostly Western countries, affecting the European Union mostly during 2000 and 2001 and the United States mostly in 2002 and 2003. ... A municipality or general-purpose district (compare with: special-purpose district) is an administrative local area generally composed of a clearly defined territory and commonly referring to a city, town, or village government. ... District Lisbon Mayor   - Party Carmona Rodrigues PSD Area 84. ...

Santana Lopes' short career as Prime Minister began inauspiciously, with some members of government being shuffled between departments on the same afternoon as the government was being inaugurated. His Minister of Defence Paulo Portas was taken by surprise during the ceremony when he was announced as the Minister for National Defence and Sea Affairs. Portas' look of surprise when the change was announced was broadcast live on television. Paulo Sacadura Cabral Portas (born 12 September 1962) is a Portuguese politician. ...

Santana Lopes' period in office was also marked by chaos in the allocation of teachers to schools (more than a month after classes officially started, and resulting from alleged incompetence of the IT provider (designated during the previous Government); the problem was swiftly solved by another small provider), and by claims of pressure exerted on the press, including arranging for the replacement of the information director of the public television channel RTP, and pressing private television channel TVI to tone down the criticism of him by a political commentator, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, a former leader of his own party, who consequently left the channel. Rádio e Televisão de Portugal SGPS, SA, commonly known as Rádio e Televisão de Portugal (Portuguese for Radio and Television of Portugal), and as one of its subsidiaries, RTP; is the national public service broadcaster in Portugal. ... TVI - Televisão Independente or Independent Television is Portugals fourth terrestrial television channel (launched in 1993, already under the name TVI, but marketed as 4, which was the sole element of its logo). ... Marcelo (or Marcello) Rebelo de Sousa is a Portuguese politician, Law professor, and political analyst. ...

The beginning of the end of the Santana Lopes Administration occurred on November 30, when President Sampaio announced that he was going to dissolve the Portuguese Parliament and call early elections for February 2005, after Henrique Chaves, a Santana Lopes loyalist, resigned after four days as minister for sport, claiming that Santana Lopes lacked "loyalty and truth". November 30 is the 334th day (335th on leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 31 days remaining, as the final day of November. ... The Portuguese Parliament election took place on February 20, 2005. ...

Santana Lopes announced the resignation of the government on December 11. This resignation did not, however, have any immediate practical effect, since the government continued in a caretaker role until the election. He went on to lead his party to their worst result in parliamentary elections in Portugal; the election of 20 February was won by the Socialist Party led by José Sócrates, with whom Santana Lopes had debated every Sunday for one year on the public television station, RTP. Despite expectations that he would follow his coalition partner, Paulo Portas, and resign on election night, he only announced that he would leave the leadership two days later. December 11 is the 345th day (346th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar. ... February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. ... The Socialist Party (Portuguese: Partido Socialista, pron. ... José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa (born in Vilar de Maçada, 6 September 1957) is a Portuguese politician, secretary-general of the Socialist Party and the current prime minister of Portugal, since March 12, 2005. ... Paulo Sacadura Cabral Portas (born 12 September 1962) is a Portuguese politician. ...

Two days after the inauguration of the new government, he returned to complete his term as Mayor of Lisbon. However, when his party failed to endorse him as a candidate for the 2005 municipal elections, he resigned his office one month before the vote, to assume office as Member of Parliament, which he immediately suspended. The place of Mayor was occupied by the Vice-Mayor, António Carmona Rodrigues, who was elected Mayor in 2005 municipal elections. 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Personal

Santana Lopes is divorced, and has five children by three ex-wives.

Gaffes

Santana Lopes is known for his Quaylesque gaffes, which include: James Danforth Quayle (born February 4, 1947) was the 44th Vice President of the United States under George H. W. Bush (1989-1993). ... A gaffe is a verbal mistake made by a company or individual, usually in a social environment. ...

• claiming that the non-existent Chopin violin concerto was his favourite piece of classical music;
• sending a postcard to Brazilian author Machado de Assis (who died in 1908);
• calling a press conference to announce that he was being threatened when in fact he had received a mailing for a book titled Cuidado com os rapazes ("Watch out for the boys");
• announcing that he would leave political life as a protest against criticism, and then changing his mind after a few days;
• missing a formal dinner during a State visit in order to attend a fashion show;
• postponing the inauguration of some of his vice-ministers in order to attend a wedding;
• appearing lost in the middle of his inauguration speech, with long and embarrassing silences, confusing pages and looking nervous.

This article is about Frédéric Chopin, the composer. ... Joaquim Maria Machado de Assis (June 21, 1839 - September 29, 1908) was a Brazilian realist novelist, poet and short-story writer born in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. ...

Bibliography

Co-author with José Manuel Durão Barroso: Sistema de Governo e Sistema Partidário, Livraria Bertrand, 1980. This article needs to be updated. ...

Os Sistemas de Governos Mistos e o actual Sistema Português, Difel Editorial, 2001.