How does the Portuguese parliament work? A test guide

Portugal's parliament is called the Assembleia da República — the Assembly of the Republic. It has a single chamber of 230 members, elected every four years from party lists. It makes the country's most important laws, passes the budget, and can bring down the Government. If you come from a country with two chambers, a senate or directly elected local MPs, forget all three: none of them exists here.

For the citizenship test, parliament belongs to the theme «political organisation of the State». The five themes are mapped in our 2026 citizenship test guide, and the four organs of sovereignty side by side are in how the Portuguese State is organised. This page is only about parliament, and about the few numbers the test is most likely to ask.

How many MPs does Portugal have, and why is the answer tricky?

The answer the test wants is 230. The trick is where that number lives. The Constitution only sets a range — at least 180 and at most 230 members — and leaves the exact figure to the electoral law, which picked 230. Changing it, or redrawing the constituencies, needs a two-thirds majority, a majority no single party usually holds on its own.

About four in ten people get this question wrong in our free practice quiz. The usual wrong answer is 308 — which is the number of municipalities in Portugal, a figure that also turns up in tests.

How do elections to parliament work?

You do not vote for a named candidate. You vote for one list put forward by a party or a coalition in your constituency, and the seats that list wins go to its candidates in the order printed on the ballot. Lists may include people who are not party members, but only parties can present them — there are no independent candidacies for parliament.

There are 22 constituencies, called círculos eleitorais: one for each of the 18 mainland districts, one for Madeira, one for the Azores, and two for citizens who live abroad — Europa and Fora da Europa (outside Europe). The two abroad constituencies always elect two MPs each. The other 226 seats are split among the domestic constituencies according to how many voters each one has, and the National Elections Commission (CNE) publishes the map before every election.

That fixed number abroad matters if you will keep living outside Portugal after naturalising. In the official map for the March 2024 election, the Europe constituency had more than 930,000 registered voters and elected 2 MPs — the same as Portalegre, a mainland district with about 93,000 voters. Lisbon, the largest constituency, elected 48.

One more rule worth knowing: MPs represent the whole country, not the constituency that elected them. That is written into the Constitution.

What is the d'Hondt method, in plain numbers?

Inside each constituency, votes become seats by the d'Hondt method. You divide each party's votes by 1, then 2, then 3, and so on, and hand out the seats to the largest results until they run out. Here is a constituency with five seats:

Party A won roughly half the votes and took three of the five seats. That small bonus for bigger parties is typical of d'Hondt, and it grows as constituencies get smaller: in a two-seat district, a small party has almost no chance. If the constituency had a sixth seat, it would go to the next-largest number in the table — B's 3,000 — and B would move up to two seats. That is the whole method: no percentages, no rounding, just a queue of divided totals. What Portugal does not have is a national threshold, like the 5% rule some European countries use — the Constitution forbids one.

How long is a parliamentary term?

Four years, counted as four legislative sessions. Each session starts on 15 September, and the plenary normally sits until 15 June. If the President dissolves parliament and calls an early election, the new Assembly starts a fresh four-year term rather than finishing the old one. When the President can and cannot do that is covered in what the President of Portugal does. The pair to memorise: parliament four years, President five.

Which laws can only parliament make?

This is the part that surprises people from countries where only parliament legislates. In Portugal, the Government also makes laws, by decree. To keep the big questions in parliament's hands, the Constitution reserves a list of subjects for it alone. On that list: elections, referendums, political parties, states of emergency, the basics of the school system — and acquiring and losing Portuguese citizenship.

So the nationality law you are applying under could only come from parliament. It is also an «organic law», a category that needs an absolute majority of all MPs in office — at least 116 of 230 — in the final vote. A second list covers subjects the Government can legislate on only with parliament's authorisation, such as fundamental rights and the definition of crimes and penalties. Beyond both lists, parliament alone approves the State budget, amendments to the Constitution, amnesties and the most important international treaties.

One distinction to keep clear: parliament makes the nationality law, but your application is handled by the IRN, the registry service under the Ministry of Justice. It is not a parliamentary matter, and it is not handled by AIMA either.

Can parliament remove the Government?

Yes. A motion of censure (moção de censura) can be tabled by a quarter of the MPs or by any parliamentary group. It is debated no earlier than 48 hours later, and if an absolute majority of all MPs in office votes for it, the Government falls. If it fails, the MPs who signed it cannot table another one in the same session.

Parliament also elects its own President, by absolute majority. If the President of the Republic is unable to serve, it is the President of the Assembly who stands in — not the Prime Minister.

Once you are Portuguese, could you sit in parliament?

Yes. This is where parliament differs from the presidency, which is reserved for Portuguese citizens by origin. Any Portuguese citizen who is registered to vote can stand for parliament, naturalised citizens included, subject to a few incompatibilities such as serving judges and active military. One rule is aimed squarely at dual nationals: if you hold political office in your other country, you cannot be a candidate in the constituency that covers that country.

Three traps to avoid on test day

First, the numbers: 230 MPs, not 308 (municipalities). Second, the structure: one chamber, no senate. Third, the term: four years for parliament, five for the President.

The «how many MPs» question is one of the ten most-missed in our analysis of the hardest quiz questions. Now that you know where the number comes from, try the free practice quiz and see whether 230 beats 308.