Eurico de Melo

Eurico Silva Teixeira de Melo (28 September 1925 – 1 August 2012) was a Portuguese politician and engineer, who served as Deputy Prime Minister from 1987 until 1990.

Biography

Eurico de Melo was born in 1925, in Santo Tirso. He studied Engineering in the University of Porto, later becoming an assistant professor in that university.

After the Carnation Revolution, he joined the Social Democratic Party. He was the Civil Governor of Braga District from 1975 until 1976.

Melo became the Minister of Internal Administration in 1980, under the government of Francisco Sá Carneiro. Sá Carneiro reportedly was looking to resign and appoint Eurico de Melo as Prime Minister if Ramalho Eanes won re-election in the 1980 presidential election, which didn't end up happening after the Camarate accident and the death of the Prime Minister.

He became once again the Minister of Internal Administration in the first cabinet of Aníbal Cavaco Silva and, after the PSD won an absolute majority in the 1987 legislative election, he became Deputy Prime Minister.

He left the office after a cabinet reshuffle in January 1990, later becoming the PSD's main candidate in the 1994 European Parliament election. He was elected as a Member of the European Parliament, being in office from 1994 until 1999.

Melo died in 2012, in Porto, at 86 years old.

Electoral history

European Parliament election, 1994

|- ! colspan="2" | Party ! Candidate ! Votes ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|% ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|Seats ! align="center" style="width: 50px"|+/− |- | style="background:;"| | align="left"|PS | align=left |António Vitorino || 1,061,560 || 34.9 || 10 || style="color:green;"| +3 |- | style="background:;"| | align="left"|PSD | align=left |Eurico de Melo || 1,046,918 || 34.4 || 9 || ±0 |- | style="background:;"| | align="left"| CDS–PP | align=left |Manuel Monteiro || 379,044 || 12.5 || 3 || ±0 |- | style="background:;"| | align="left"| CDU | align=left |Luis Manuel de Sá || 340,725 || 11.2 || 3 || style="color:red;"| –1 |- | style="background:white;"| | colspan="2" align="left"| Other parties | 121,498 || 4.0 || 0 || style="color:red;"| –1 |- | colspan="3" align="left"| Blank/Invalid ballots | 94,236 || 3.1 || – || – |- style="background-color:#E9E9E9" | colspan="3" align="left"| Turnout | 3,044,001 || 35.54 || 25 || style="color:green;"| +1 |- | colspan="7" align=left|Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

References