section_path: History/Post-Cavaco Silva
section_name: Post-Cavaco Silva
paragraph_text: Post-Cavaco Silva
  
  After Cavaco Silva stepped down as leader in January 1995, in the following month, in the PSD congress, the party elected Fernando Nogueira as leader. The PSD lost the 1995 election to the PS. In 1996, Cavaco Silva ran for the presidency of the republic, but he failed to defeat former Lisbon Mayor Jorge Sampaio. Sampaio won 53.9 percent to Cavaco's 46.1 percent. The party, for the first time in 16 years, was out of government. In 1996, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was elected party leader, and held that post until 1999. At the time, the party reviewed its membership database, resulting in a correction from 183,000 in 1996 to 77,000 in 1999. Rebelo de Sousa resigned in April 1999 and shortly after, José Manuel Durão Barroso was elected party leader. The party was again defeated in the 1999 elections. The party made a big comeback in the 2001 local elections by winning several cities, like Lisbon, Porto and Sintra, from the PS and, some, against all odds and predictions. This PSD result led the then Prime Minister António Guterres (PS) to resign and the country was led to snap general elections in March 2002.