1.
GV TILT DOWN Crowd waving banners and chanting
0.06

2.
GV Crowd continues to chant and wave flags, etc.
0.14

3.
SV PAN FROM Crowd TO Balsemao
0.18

4.
GV Crowd with banners and chanting
0.22

5.
GV PAN ALONG Leaders on balcony clapping
0.32

6.
GV PAN Crowd continues to chant and wave banners ( 2 shots)
0.48



Initials CL/2006 CL/2011



Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: As Portugal's election fever increases -- polling in the first free elections for 48 years takes place on Friday (25 April) -- The Popular Democrat party wound up its electoral campaign in Lisbon on Tuesday (22 April) night with a mass rally of 20,000 in a Lisbon sports stadium.

One of the Party's leaders -- Dr. Francisco Pinto Balsenao -- told his slogan-chanting and banner-waving supporters that the Popular Democrats would win the election. He added that this would show up the "fierce tigers of today for what they are -- just paper tigers".

But he also urged the Government to take the elections seriously. This note of caution was made in the face of repeated statements from Portugal's left-wing military rulers that the country's course would not be affected by the election results and that these would not alter the government coalition of Socialists, Popular Democrats, Communists and the Communist's sister organisation, the Portuguese Democratic Movement.