It’s still so early, but “we’re already tired of the presidential elections”. It’s hard to understand this anxiety

The perspective of a councilor at Braga City Council – which corresponds to what is really happening, especially in the media.

“It has been interesting to watch the number of hours and articles already written to talk about elections that only come in 2026.”

“It is difficult to understand the national anxiety surrounding this electoral event.”

“Presidential elections have never been talked about for so long and so intensely. Why?”

The question remains without a fully defined answer. And it was launched by Artur Feio, businessman and PS councilor at Braga City Council.

In your opinion article on , with a very appropriate title – “We are already tired of the presidential elections” – the councilor tries to find an answer to the question “why?”. Why is there so much talk about elections that won’t take place for another year?

There is a hypothesis more coherent than any other: there is no closed candidate/winner linked to the two biggest parties. In other words, Gouveia e Melo appears as an outstanding leader for now, but the parties, whether left or right, do not yet support any candidate.

Nor is support expected to be announced soon. On the PSD side, Marques Mendes appears to be at the forefront; It doesn’t convince all Social Democrats, but it does. In the PS, uncertainty reigns; Mário Centeno stepped aside, António José Seguro can move forward but from the socialists.

Another possible reason for this presidential turmoil: knowing what kind of president will we have after the private Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

But then we look at the calendar and see that, later this year, there will be an election autarchic. Around 100 mayors will leave. And even so… Let’s compare the time we’ve been talking about, and the texts we’ve read, about municipal elections and presidential elections? There is no comparison, the presidential elections win by far – and PSD and PS have not yet announced the candidates for the largest local authorities. But this is no longer a common topic.

What fills daily newspapers, radio or television news are presidential news. It’s interesting to look at titles of podcasts of political commentary in recent weeks – see how many times you see names associated with presidential elections. It’s constant.

And Artur Feio leaves another valid perspective: Marcelo “allowed people to talk about his succession two years before the end of his mandate”. That is, until There is a feeling that the current President of the Republic has already left.

We could easily understand this anxiety if there were no more relevant issues regarding Portuguese politics today. . Daily.