Editing Politics of Portugal (section)

===VI, VII, VIII Constitutional Governments (1980–1983)===
The [[Democratic Alliance (Portugal, 1979)|Democratic Alliance]], under the leadership of '''[[Francisco Sá Carneiro]]''', won the [[1979 Portuguese legislative election|1979 legislative elections]] by a big margin and the VI Constitutional Government was sworn in in January 1980. Sá Carneiro's tenure was short lived as he died in a tragic [[1980 Camarate air crash|plane crash]] in December 1980.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/politica/sa-carneiro-morre-em-acidente-de-aviacao_v853556|title=Sá Carneiro morre em acidente de aviação |publisher=RTP|access-date=8 October 2022|date=8 September 2015|language=pt}}</ref>

In January 1981, the [[Social Democratic Party (Portugal)|Social Democratic Party]], the main party within the Democratic Alliance, elected '''[[Francisco Pinto Balsemão]]''' as leader and the VII Constitutional Government was sworn in.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://arquivos.rtp.pt/conteudos/tomada-de-posse-do-vii-governo-constitucional/|title=Tomada de posse do VII Governo Constitucional|publisher=RTP|access-date=8 October 2022|date=9 January 1981|language=pt}}</ref> Internal issues within the Alliance forced a new government to take office, the VIII Constitutional Government, in September 1981, also led by Pinto Balsemão. Balsemão resigned in late 1982.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/politica/demissao-pinto-balsemao_a853792|title=Demissão Pinto Balsemão|publisher=RTP|access-date=15 January 2024|date=8 September 2015|language=pt}}</ref>