What does it take to be President of the Republic and what powers does the head of State have?

The presidential elections are coming and, as such, it is always good to refresh your memory and remember the essentials: what is, what should, what does and what can a President of the Republic do?

The Constitution and electoral law define objective criteria and a formal process that begins before the campaign. To be a presidential candidate, according to the Electoral Law of the President of the Republic and information from the National Elections Commission (CNE), it is mandatory:

• have Portuguese nationality
• be at least 35 years old
• have active electoral capacity
• have a candidacy proposed by voters, through proposals (signatures) collected and validated by a minimum of 7,500 and a maximum of 15,000 voting citizens. The lists are delivered to the Constitutional Court, which assesses the regularity of the process.

And who cannot apply?

• Military personnel serving on permanent staff and on a voluntary or contract basis, unless granted a special license by the Chief of Staff of the Branch to which the applicant belongs
• The President of the Republic, for a third consecutive term, nor the former President of the Republic, in the subsequent five years after finishing his second consecutive term
• In case of resignation, the President of the Republic cannot run for the next election, nor within five years after resignation.
• The President of the Republic who has been convicted of a crime committed in the exercise of his duties.

The 2026 presidential elections will take place on January 18 and, most likely, in these elections, we will have a second round. The last one happened 40 years ago, in 1986, between Mário Soares and Diogo Freitas do Amaral, who would lose the elections to the PS’s record (51.18% against 48.82%).

When elected, the President of the Republic becomes the body that “represents the Portuguese Republic” and that ensures national independence, the unity of the State and the regular functioning of democratic institutions. He is also, inherently, Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces.

In practice, the Head of State can schedule elections, dissolve the Assembly of the Republic and, in foreseeable circumstances, dismiss the Government. It also has the power to promulgate diplomas or politically veto them and can request preventive or successive inspection of constitutionality. Among other powers, it can grant pardons and commute sentences; on the external plane, it ratifies treaties and, under constitutional terms, declares war and makes peace.

The President has the following duties, powers, rights and competencies:

• Duty to contribute, within the scope of its constitutional powers, to ensuring the fidelity of the Armed Forces to the Constitution and democratic institutions;
• Right to be informed by the Government about the situation of the Armed Forces;
• Right to be informed in advance by the Government, through reasoned communication, about the use of the Armed Forces in missions that involve collaboration with security forces and services against aggression or transnational threats;
• Right to be informed in advance by the Prime Minister, through reasoned communication, about the use of the Armed Forces and other forces when integrated into a military force, in military operations outside the national territory;
• Duty to privately advise the Government on the conduct of national defense policy;
• Right to occupy first place in the hierarchy of the Armed Forces;
• Consult the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the Chiefs of the General Staff of the Navy, Army and Air Force, on matters of national defense;
• Confer, on your own initiative, military decorations.

Competences in relation to other bodies

• Preside over the State Council;
• Schedule, in accordance with the electoral law, the day of elections for the President of the Republic, Deputies to the Assembly of the Republic, Deputies to the European Parliament and Deputies to the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions;
• Convene the Assembly of the Republic extraordinarily;
• Send messages to the Assembly of the Republic and the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions;
• Dissolve the Assembly of the Republic, subject to the provisions of article 172, after hearing the parties represented therein and the Council of State;
• Appoint the Prime Minister, in accordance with paragraph 1 of article 187;
• Dismiss the Government, in accordance with paragraph 2 of article 195, and dismiss the Prime Minister, in accordance with paragraph 4 of article 186;
• Appoint and dismiss members of the Government, upon proposal from the Prime Minister;
• Preside over the Council of Ministers, when the Prime Minister requests it;
• Dissolve the Legislative Assemblies of the autonomous regions, after consulting the Council of State and the parties represented in them, observing the provisions of article 172, with the necessary adaptations;
• Appoint and dismiss, after consulting the Government, the Representatives of the Republic for the autonomous regions;
• Appoint and dismiss, upon proposal from the Government, the president of the Court of Auditors and the Attorney General of the Republic;
• Appoint five members of the Council of State and two members of the Superior Council of the Judiciary;
• Preside over the Superior Council for National Defense;
• Appoint and dismiss, upon proposal from the Government, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, the Vice Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces, when applicable, and the Chiefs of Staff of the three branches of the Armed Forces, after hearing, in the latter two cases, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces.

Own acts

• Perform the functions of Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces;
• Promulgate and publish laws, decree-laws and regulatory decrees, sign resolutions of the Assembly of the Republic that approve international agreements and other Government decrees;
• Submit questions of relevant national interest to a referendum, in accordance with article 115, and those referred to in paragraph 2 of article 232 and paragraph 3 of article 256;
• Declare a state of siege or state of emergency, observing the provisions of articles 19 and 138;
• Provide an opinion on all serious emergencies affecting the life of the Republic;
• Pardon and commute sentences, after consulting the Government;
• Request the Constitutional Court to carry out a preventive assessment of the constitutionality of norms contained in laws, decree-laws and international conventions;
• Request the Constitutional Court to declare legal norms unconstitutional, as well as verify unconstitutionality due to omission;
• Confer decorations, in accordance with the law, and exercise the role of grand master of Portuguese honorary orders.

International relations

• Appoint ambassadors and extraordinary envoys, upon proposal from the Government, and accredit foreign diplomatic representatives;
• Ratify international treaties, after they have been duly approved;
• Declare war in the event of actual or imminent aggression and make peace, upon proposal from the Government, after hearing the Council of State and with authorization from the Assembly of the Republic, or, when it is not in session and its immediate meeting is not possible, its Permanent Commission.

Promulgation and veto

• Within twenty days from the receipt of any decree from the Assembly of the Republic to be promulgated as law, or from the publication of the decision of the Constitutional Court that does not rule on the unconstitutionality of a rule contained therein, the President of the Republic must promulgate it or exercise the right of veto, requesting a new assessment of the diploma in a reasoned message.
• If the Assembly of the Republic confirms the vote by an absolute majority of the Deputies in full office, the President of the Republic must promulgate the diploma within eight days of its receipt.
• However, a two-thirds majority of the Deputies present will be required, as long as it is greater than the absolute majority of the Deputies in full office, for the confirmation of decrees that take the form of organic law, as well as those that relate to the following matters:

a) External relations;
b) Limits between the public sector, the private sector and the cooperative and social sector of ownership of the means of production;
c) Regulation of electoral acts provided for in the Constitution, which does not take the form of organic law.

• Within forty days from the receipt of any decree from the Government to be promulgated, or from the publication of the decision of the Constitutional Court that does not rule on the unconstitutionality of a rule contained therein, the President of the Republic must promulgate it or exercise the right of veto, communicating in writing to the Government the meaning of the veto.
• The President of the Republic also exercises the right of veto under the terms of articles 278 and 279.