Kawaku Silva, Anibal

Born in the family of a small dealer in fuel and nuts. He graduated from the Lisbon Commercial Institute of Lisbon and the Higher Institute of Trade in Economics and Finance (the first in its issue). Military service (1963−1965) took place in the colonial troops in Mozambique with the rank of ensign.

He was seriously interested in sports, in the early 1960s he was the champion of Portugal in the 110 meter hurdles.

Doctor of Economics, Professor. He received his degree in 1974 at the University of York , UK . In 1965 - 1967 he taught political economy at the Institute for Economic and Financial Studies in Lisbon . From 1966 to 1978 he taught economics at the Higher Institute of Economics. In 1967 - 1977 - a researcher at the Economic Research Center at the Galust Gulbekyan Foundation in Lisbon. In 1975 - 1977 he taught at the Catholic and Lisbon (new) universities. In 1977 - 1979 - Head of the Research and Statistics Division of the Bank of Portugal. He dealt with issues of economic and budgetary policy of Portugal, the problems of economic stabilization of the market and macroeconomic development.

One of the leading Portuguese economists. In the 1970s and early 1980s he became famous for his work “Budget Policy and Economic Stabilization” ( 1976 ), “The Economic Impact of Public Sector Debt” ( 1977 ), “Public Sector Finance and Macroeconomic Policy” ( 1982 ) , “The Economic Policy of the Governments of Sa Carneiro” ( 1982 ). In these works, he argued that the public sector, as a result of its unprofitability and constantly growing debt, has a destabilizing effect on the development of the Portuguese economy and financial sector. He proposed transferring the majority of state enterprises to private hands. He advocated the growth of foreign investment, for which political stability was needed in the country.

In 1980, Francisco Sa Carneiro was invited to the government as Minister of Finance. During his tenure, he gained a reputation as a liberal. After the death of Sa Carneiro (with whom he had friendly relations) in a plane crash, he resigned as minister, was chairman of the State Planning Council, and led the Portuguese delegation in negotiations with the International Monetary Fund .

He refused to enter the coalition cabinet of socialists and social democrats ( 1983 - 1985 ). His election as head of the Social Democratic Party on June 2, 1985, with the support of its center-right wing, led to the collapse of the coalition, the subsequent resignation of the government and the holding of new elections, in which the PSD received a relative, but not absolute majority. The new cabinet (single-party "minority government") has already formed Kawaku Silva himself. He relied in his work on technocrats - economists, university professors, and entrepreneurs.

The first few years of the cabinet of Kawaku Silva were marked by continuous economic growth, which was largely promoted by a policy of tax cuts and continued deregulation of the economy, as well as substantial financial assistance from the European Union . Nevertheless, the parliament, which was actually controlled by the opposition, opposed the popular prime minister. This confrontation ultimately led to a vote of no confidence in the cabinet and early parliamentary elections in 1987 .

The voting results shocked even the most optimistic supporters of Kawaku Silva. His Social Democratic Party received 50.2% of the vote and 148 out of 250 seats in the Assembly of the Republic . Far behind were the second place socialists (60 places) and communists (31 places). For the first time in Portuguese history, one party received an absolute parliamentary majority.

The 1991 election was another triumph for Kawaku Silva, whose party once again confidently won the vast majority of seats in parliament. However, the steady high unemployment rate, as well as some signs of corruption among government members, led to the cabinet losing its popularity among the population and, ultimately, to Kavak Silva’s refusal to participate in the 1995 elections and his resignation as leader of the Social Democrats. The party, having lost such an authoritative leader, lost the election. The new Prime Minister was the head of the Socialist Party, Antoni Guterres .

In the 1996 presidential election , Kawaku Silva lost to the mayor of Lisbon, Georges Sampaillot , gaining 46.09% of the vote against 53.91% of the opponent. After the defeat, he temporarily resigned from politics, taking the post of adviser at the Bank of Portugal , and since 2004 has completely devoted himself to teaching at the Catholic University of Portugal. In the 2005 parliamentary elections , he refused to support the Prime Minister and leader of the Portuguese Social Democrats, Pedro Santan Lopez , despite pressure from the party. The party lost the election, on March 12, 2005, the Socialist government came to power , led by Jose Socrates .

On October 20, 2005, Kawaku Silva announced his intention to run for president. January 22, 2006 won the first round of presidential elections (50.59%), becoming the sixth president of the Portuguese Republic after the Carnations Revolution on April 25, 1974 and the first president of the center-right orientation for all this time. During his election campaign, he made the main emphasis on economic modernization, promising an increase in economic growth and a decrease in unemployment.

As a result of the presidential election on January 23, 2011, Anibal Cavaco Silva was re-elected to the post of President of Portugal ^[3] .

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