The party was considered centrist and was the personal party of Monteiro, and was dominated by him. It campaigned on the theme of political renewal and fighting the Portuguese establishment in favor of a more pluralistic electoral environment, where independents and non-aligned parties would be given a chance to enter politics.[4] It was described as a populist, Eurosceptic and nationalist party that protested the dominance of Portuguese politics by only two parties - the CDS-PP and the PSD.[2] The party was also characterized as moderately conservative, and aimed to become the main rival of the Christian-democratic CDS-PP.[1]
History
The party was found by Monteiro in protests of the policies of the Democratic and Social Centre – People's Party, which became supportive of the European Union and the European integration. The party campaigned on growing disappointment of the CDS-PP.[1]
The presence of the New Democracy Party caused the CDS-PP to face tensions with its coalition partner, the moderate Força Portugal. The CDS-PP also continuously pressured João de Deus Pinheiro to not debate Manuel Monteiro, which led Monteiro to accuse main Portuguese parties of discriminating him.[1]
For the 2009 election, Monteiro left the party to dedicate himself exclusively to the campaign in Braga. However, he only won 21,876 votes, which amounted to almost 0.4% of the popular vote. Monteiro found the result "deeply disappointing" and stated his desire to leave Portugal, especially in the wake of the Socialist Party's victory.[5]
The party's registration was cancelled by the Constitutional Court on 23 September 2015, after the party failed to submit its required annual report in 2011, 2012, and 2013. The party was officially disbanded on 23 September 2015.[2]
One of the members of the party was João Pacheco de Amorim, a prominent journalist who worked for Portuguese newspapers such as O Diabo and Futuro Presente. His brother, Diogo Pacheco de Amorim, founded Chega in 2019. João was one of Chega's candidates in the 2019 Portuguese legislative election.[6]
Ideology
The party was founded as a rival to the CDS–PP, which the leader of the New Democracy Party, Monteiro, considered to have lost its way, stating that "the PP was no longer the CDS". The New Democracy Party ran on the goal of political "renewal" and promised a "new" kind of politics which would make room for independents and non-aligned parties at expense of the Portuguese establishment.[4]
Pedro Cruz, describing the ideology of the PND and Monteiro, wrote: "It wasn't left-wing, but it wasn't right-wing either, it was "centrist", conservative but not too much, popular enough, [Monteiro was] easy to talk to, almost demagogic." Despite being a splinter from the CDS-PP, the party also became home for disaffected liberals and former members of the Social Democratic Party. Cruz however also noted that the New Democracy Party was a "one-man party", dominated by Monteiro.[4]
The party was described as moderately conservative,[1] as well as Eurosceptic and nationalist agenda. It was primairly geared towards populist protest against the deadlock of the political system in Portugal, and ran explcitly against the dominance of PSD and CDS-PP in Portuguese politics.[2]
