Portuguese Communist Party

The Portuguese Communist Party (Portuguese: Partido Comunista Português or PCP) is a major left-wing political party in Portugal, founded in 1921 as the Portuguese section of Communist International (Comintern).

Historical List of PCP's General Secretaries

The statutes of the party state that The General Secretary of the Portuguese Communist Party is elected by the Central Committee among its members, this is usually done after each Congress.

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• José Carlos Rates — (1921 - ?)
• Carlos Machado — (? - 1929)
• Bento Gonçalves (1902-1942) — (1929 -1942)
• (vacant for 19 years after Bento Gonçalves death in Tarrafal Concentration Camp)
• Álvaro Cunhal (1913-2005) — (1961-1992)
• Carlos Carvalhas (b. 1941) — (1992-2004) — Elected in 1992, Carvalhas is an economist, he was member of the provisional governments after the Carnation Revolution in 1974/75 with the tasks of the employment. In the 1980's he was member of the European Parliament and in 1991 he was the Party's candidate to the presidential election. He was later a member of the Portuguese Parliament for several years.
• Jerónimo de Sousa (b. 1947) — (2004 - ) — Elected after the 17th Congress in 2004, Jerónimo de Sousa is a former metallurgical worker and still member of the metallurgical workers' union. He was member of the Constituent Assembly and of the subsequent Parliaments and was noted for being among the few MPs with working-class origins, a strange fact at the time, and also today. Jerónimo was also the Party's presidential candidate in 1996, but left the race giving his support to the Socialist candidate Jorge Sampaio.