Antonio Cotrim / Lusa
More than 11 million voters are today called upon to choose Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s successor, in very disputed elections for the Presidency of the Republic and with a record 11 candidates.
The polling stations opened at 08:00 and close at 19:00, in mainland Portugal and Madeira, closing an hour later in the Azores, due to the time difference.
According to the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration (SGMAI), they were registered on the electoral roll 11,039,672 voters on January 3rd.
Of these, 218,481 of the voters registered in the national territory, including Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, registered with the early voting on mobilitywhich took place last Sunday.
A 11th election for the Presidency of the Republic Since the establishment of democracy on April 25, 1974, it has had a record number of candidates: 11.
Thus, the 11 candidates appear on the ballot by following order: the trade unionist André Pestana occupies the second lineJorge Pinto, supported by Livre, the third, and the musician Manuel João Vieira the fifth.
Catarina Martins (supported by Bloco de Esquerda) appears in seventh place in the report, João Cotrim Figueiredo (supported by the Liberal Initiative) in eighth, the painter Humberto Correia in ninth and the socialist António José Seguro in 10th.
The candidate supported by the PSD and CDS-PP coalition, Luís Marques Mendesis on the 11th line, Andre Venturathe leader of Chega, in the next, with António Filipe (supported by the PCP) and Henrique Gouveia e Melorespectively, in 13th and 14th position.
The bulletin also includes the names of Joana Amaral Dias, José Cardoso and Ricardo Sousa, whose candidacies by the Constitutional Court due to procedural irregularities. Any vote for one of the three will be considered null and void..
These presidential elections, the most disputed ever in number of candidates, but also if the polls are to be believed, they are seeking to reverse the growth of abstention, which in 2021 reached the highest value ever.
Five years ago, 60.76% of those registered did not vote in the elections that re-elected Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, held at the most serious moment of the spread of covid-19 in Portugal.
The low number of voters also resulted from the automatic voter registration of emigrants with a valid citizen card, which resulted from a change in the law made in 2018.
In 2021, of the 1,549,380 registered abroad, only 29,153 voted, a mere 1.88%. A’giant’ abstention rate abroad, of 98.12%contrasted with that recorded in the national territory, which was 54.55%.
If any candidate obtains more than 50% of the votes cast, he will be elected head of state today. Otherwise, there will be a second vback, on February 8, with the two most voted competitors.
This is the 11th time the Portuguese are called choosing the President of the Republic in democracy, since 1976.
Since 1976, António Ramalho Eanes (1976-1986), Mário Soares (1986-1996), Jorge Sampaio (1996-2006), Cavaco Silva (2006-2016) and Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa (2016-2026) have been elected.
Successor takes office on March 9
The inauguration of the next head of State will take place on March 9, before the Assembly of the Republic, as required by the 1976 Constitution.
Article 127 of the Constitution determines that the inauguration of the elected President takes place “on the last day of the outgoing President’s term of office or, in the case of an election due to vacancy, on the eighth day following the day of publication of the electoral results”.
To be last day of the five-year term of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and the first day of the next presidency is March 9, the same date since 1986the year in which Mário Soares took office as the 17th President of the Republic.
This year’s ceremony will be repeated again in the same Assembly of the Republic where five Presidents of the Republic swore “defend, comply with and enforce the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic” of 1976.
Five years ago, this ceremony was more restricteda: in the Sessions Room, with reduced attendance (only 50 of the 230 deputies participated) and all those present wearing a mask, due to covid-19Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was greeted with applause by deputies from PS, PSD, CDS-PP and around 20 guests.
Hugs were missing, replaced by nods, in the second inauguration of the “president of affections” – and also of ‘selfies’ -, who on that day declared that the Portuguese were the reason for the solemn commitment he made, especially “those who need it most”.
“The homeless, those with a roof over their heads but without adequate housingthose my age or older who live in homes or in their homes in solitude or watched over by formal or informal caregivers”, he listed.
He also mentioned “poor retirees or pensioners”, “unemployed or on lay-off”, “precarious workers and entrepreneurs” and children, young people, families, teachers and non-teachers “run over in two academic years”, as well as health professionals and those who lost loved ones in the pandemic.
During his 2nd term, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa fulfilled his promisenamely by placing people experiencing homelessness on the public agenda, although it has not managed to eradicate, together with the Government, the phenomenon by 2023, as it intended.
In March, will say goodbye to the Belém Palace after a discreet end to his term, motivated by recovery from surgery for an abdominal hernia, carried out on December 1st, which led him to reduce his schedule and cancel trips.
