It developed from the Pact of Granja, which fused the Historic Party and the Reformist Party, which both espoused liberal ideals, and had political opinions counter the Regenerator Party's leader, Fontes Pereira de Melo. At the time, the Progressista and Regenerator parties were sociological and psychological different entities, causing factionalist divisions in society. A good example of this breach occurred in Seixal, where two philharmonic bands were established that supported the Partido Regenerador, the Timbre Seixalense, and the Sociedade Filarmónica União Seixalense, which supported the Partido Progressista. The Progressistas.
History
The first Progressive Party government assumed their functions on June 1, 1879, under the Party leaderAnselmo José Braamcamp, and would last until March 25, 1881. During its 664 days in office, the group promoted a program of morality and liberal idealism, supported by various important figures. In their October 19, 1879 electoral victory, new faces were added, including António Cândido, Emídio Navarro and Veiga Beirão would be elected. In February 1885, the former socialist and nascent republican, Oliveira Martins, joins the party, declaring himself the inheritor of Passos. Carlos Lobo d’Ávila, would later join the party after Antero Quental declares that the Fontist regime would not evolve beyond a bureaucratic and financial oligarchy. In September 1885 Luciano de Castro was elected president of the Party, supported by Barros Gomes and Oliveira Martins, while being opposed by Emídio Navarro and Mariano de Carvalho's faction. In the elections of March 30, 1879, under the government of António Serpa there were 33 Progressista deputies, a number that would remain constant in the October 23, 1892 government of Dias Ferreira. During the March 6, 1887 would form a majority with 113 of 169 seats, a feat that they would repeat, albeit with a reduced plurality in the October 20, 1889 election. From 20 February 1886 and 14 February 1890, a Progressive Party would govern under the party leadership of José Luciano, which included in his cabinet Veiga Beirão, Barros Gomes, Henrique de Macedo, Ressano Garcia, Emídio Navarro, Mariano de Carvalho, Augusto José da Cunha, Visconde de S. Januário, Eduardo José Coelho and Marino João Franzini. During the government of Ernesto Hintze Ribeiro, the number of Progressive deputies would fall to 11 representatives and for a time the Progressive party would form a liberal alliance with the Republican Party.
