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1. Political parties shall be taken to mean organizations of citizens, of a permanent nature, formed with the fundamental objective of participating democratically in the political life of the country and of competing, in accordance with the constitutional laws and their published statutes and programmes, for the formation and expression of the political will of the people, intervening in the electoral process, namely through the presentation or sponsorship of candidates.
2. Political parties enjoy legal personality under the terms of the present decree-law and are regulated by the provisions established in Decree-Law No. 594/74, of 7th November, insofar as these do not contradict the present decree-law.