The 2016 Portuguese presidential election was held on 24 January. This election chose the successor to the President Aníbal Cavaco Silva, who was constitutionally not allowed to run for a third consecutive term.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa Marcelo Nuno Duarte Rebelo de Sousa (; born 12 December 1948) is a Portuguese politician and academic. He is the 20th and current president of Portugal, since 9 March 2016. He is a member of the Social Democratic Party, though he suspended hi ...

, the candidate supported by PPD/PSD, CDS-PP and PPM, won the election on the first round with 52% of the vote. Marcelo also won in every single district in the country and only lost a few

municipalities A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the south of the country. Turnout was higher than that of the 2011 election, but reached a record low in a presidential election with no incumbents as only 48.66% of the electorate cast a ballot.

Background and election procedure

Aníbal Cavaco Silva had served two consecutive five-year terms as president, the maximum number, and the 2016 election was to choose a successor for a term beginning on March 9. In Portugal, the president is the

head of state A head of state (or chief of state) is the public persona who officially embodies a state Foakes, pp. 110–11 " he head of statebeing an embodiment of the State itself or representatitve of its international persona." in its unity and l ...

, has mostly ceremonial powers. However, the president does have some political influence and can dissolve the

Parliament of Portugal The Assembly of the Republic (Portuguese: ''Assembleia da República'', ), commonly referred to as simply Parliament (Portuguese: ''Parlamento''), is the unicameral parliament of Portugal. According to the Constitution of Portugal, the parliament ...

if a crisis occurs.10 candidates to run in Portugal's presidential election
, Associated Press (December 30, 2015).Portugal presidential election likely to go into runoff
Deutsche Welle (January 21, 2016). The president also has an

official residence An official residence is the residence of a head of state, head of government, governor, religious leader, leaders of international organizations, or other senior figure. It may be the same place where they conduct their work-related functions. ...

in the

Belém Palace The Belém Palace ( pt, Palácio de Belém), formally the National Palace of Belém, ( pt, Palácio Nacional de Belém), is the current official residence of the President of the Portuguese Republic, the head of state of Portugal. Located in the ...

in Lisbon. In order to stand for election, candidates had to each gather 7,500 signatures of support one month before the election, and submit them to the

Constitutional Court of Portugal The Constitutional Court ( pt, Tribunal Constitucional, ) is a special court, defined by the Portuguese Constitution as part of the judicial branch of the Portuguese political organization. Unlike the rest of the country's courts, the Constitut ...

. On December 29, 2015, the Constitutional Court certified ten candidates as having met the requirements to appear on the ballot. This was a record number; the highest number of presidential candidates had previously been six. Under Portuguese law, a candidate must receive a majority of votes (50% plus one vote) to be elected. If no candidate achieved a majority in the first round, a runoff election (i.e., second round, held between the two candidates who received the most votes in the first round) would have been held on February 14. Portugal had about 9.7 million registered voters by election day.

Candidates

Official candidates

* Henrique Neto, member and former MP of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...

. * António Sampaio da Nóvoa, independent candidate and former

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the

University of Lisbon The University of Lisbon (ULisboa; pt, Universidade de Lisboa, ) is a public research university in Lisbon, and the largest university in Portugal. It was founded in 2013, from the merger of two previous public universities located in Lisbon, th ...

(2006–2013), supported by

LIVRE LIVRE (, L), previously known as LIVRE/Tempo de Avançar (, L/TDA), is a green political party in Portugal founded in 2014. Its founding principles are ecology, universalism, freedom, equity, solidarity, socialism and Europeanism. Its symbol i ...

and the

PCTP/MRPP The Portuguese Workers' Communist Party/Re-Organized Movement of the Party of the Proletariat ( pt, Partido Comunista dos Trabalhadores Portugueses/Movimento Reorganizativo do Partido do Proletariado, PCTP/MRPP) is a Maoist political party in P ...

. The

urged its supporters to either vote for him or Maria de Belém. *Cândido Ferreira,

nephrologist Nephrology (from Greek'' nephros'' "kidney", combined with the suffix ''-logy'', "the study of") is a specialty of adult internal medicine and pediatric medicine that concerns the study of the kidneys, specifically normal kidney function ( ...

MD, independent candidate and former leader of

Leiria district The District of Leiria ( pt, Distrito de Leiria ) is a district located in Centro region of Portugal, divided between the traditional provinces of Beira Litoral and Estremadura. It borders on the north with district of Coimbra, on the east with ...

branch of the

. * Edgar Silva, regional MP for the

Legislative Assembly of Madeira The Legislative Assembly of Madeira ( pt, Assembleia Legislativa da Madeira) is the legislature of the Portuguese autonomous region of Madeira. The last regional election was held on 22 September 2019 and the party with the most votes was the ...

from the

Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party ( pt, Partido Comunista Português, , PCP) is a communist, Marxist–Leninist political party in Portugal based upon democratic centralism. The party also considers itself patriotic and internationalist,Portu ...

, supported by the

. *Jorge Sequeira, psychologist, researcher and university professor. * Vitorino Silva, paver and former president of the parish of Rans, also a former member of the Socialist Party, more commonly known as ''Tino de Rans''. * Marisa Matias, sociologist who has worked in the areas of environment and public health, and European MEP of the

European United Left–Nordic Green Left European, or Europeans, or Europeneans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe a ...

, supported by the Left Bloc and the MAS. * Maria de Belém, former president of the Socialist Party (2011-2014) The Socialist Party urged its supporters to either vote for her or António Sampaio da Nóvoa. *

, former leader of the

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Fo ...

(1996–1999), supported by the

and the CDS – People's Party. * Paulo de Morais, independent candidate, former deputy mayor of

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

(2002–2005), anti-corruption activist.

Unsuccessful candidates

*Manuel João Vieira, independent candidate. *Manuel Almeida, independent. *Paulo Freitas do Amaral, university professor, former mayor of Oeiras; withdrew and supported

. *Orlando Cruz, withdrew in favour of

. *Graça Castanho, withdrew due to having lost her nomination signatures in a storm. *Castanheira Barros, independent candidate, former member of the

; withdrew and supported Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. *Manuela Gonzaga, historian and writer; was supported by the

People–Animals–Nature People–Animals–Nature ( pt, Pessoas-Animais-Natureza, PAN) is an environmentalist, animal rights and animal welfare focused political party in Portugal, founded in 2009. In 2015, they won one seat in the Assembly of the Republic.

Decided not to run

* Fernando Nobre, Independent candidate which had contested the previous presidential election. *

António Vitorino António Manuel de Carvalho Ferreira Vitorino (12 January 1957 in Lisbon; ) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician of the Socialist Party (PS). Career Career in national politics Vitorino graduated in law from the University of Lisbon. A lawye ...

, former European Commissioner (1999–2004). *

Paulo Portas Paulo de Sacadura Cabral Portas (born 12 September 1962, ) is a Portuguese media and political figure, who has, since the 1990s, been one of Portugal's leading conservative politicians. He was the leader of one of Portugal's right-wing parties, t ...

, former leader of the CDS – People's Party (1998–2005, 2007–2016), former Minister of National Defence (2002–2005) and of Foreign Affairs (2011–2013) and also former Deputy Prime Minister (2013–2015). *

Manuela Ferreira Leite Maria Manuela Dias Ferreira Leite GCC GCIH (born Lisbon, 3 December 1940), commonly known as Manuela Ferreira Leite (), is a Portuguese economist, pundit and retired politician. Background She was born in Lisbon, Portugal. Manuela Ferreira Le ...

, former leader of the

(2008–2010). * António Guterres, former

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister i ...

(1995–2002). * Manuel Carvalho da Silva, former union leader of CGTP (1986–2012). *

Pedro Santana Lopes Pedro Miguel de Santana Lopes GCC (; born 29 June 1956) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician, who is the current president of the Municipal Chamber of Figueira da Foz. He most notably served as prime minister of Portugal from 2004 to 2005. ...

, former

(2004–2005). *

Rui Rio Rui Fernando da Silva Rio (born 6 August 1957) is a Portuguese economist and politician of the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He was the Mayor of Porto from 2002 to 2013. Between 2018 and 2022, he was President of the PSD and Leader of the Opp ...

, former mayor of

(2002–2013). *

Alberto João Jardim Alberto João Cardoso Gonçalves Jardim, GCC, GCIH (, born 4 February 1943) is a Portuguese politician who was the President of the Regional Government of Madeira, Portugal, from 1978 to 2015. He is a controversial political figure in Portugal. ...

, former

President of the Regional Government of Madeira Presidents of the Regional Government of Madeira are the Head of government, heads of government for the autonomous local authority of Madeira, since the Carnation Revolution that installed the Democracy, democratic Third Portuguese Republic. The ...

(1978-2015).

Campaign period

Candidates' slogans

Candidates' debates

There were several number of debates between all the candidates in the three TV networks RTP, SIC, TVI. There was a radio debate between all candidates plus on January 19, there was a final debate between all of candidates on RTP1.Maria de Belém e Sampaio da Nóvoa enfrentam-se a 9 de janeiro. Todas as datas dos debates presidenciais
''Observador'', 21 December 2015. Retrieved 22 December 2015. Completed televised debates:

Opinion polling

Campaign budgets

Results

, - !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;" colspan="2" rowspan="2", Candidates !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:left;" rowspan="2", Supporting parties !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;" colspan="2", First round , - !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;", Votes !style="background-color:#E9E9E9;text-align:right;", % , - , style="width: 10px" bgcolor=#FF9900 align="center" , , align=left,

, align=left,

, People's Party, People's Monarchist Party , align="right" , 2,413,956 , align="right" , 52.00 , - , style="width: 5px" bgcolor=#d11a91 align="center" , , align=left, António Sampaio da Nóvoa , align=left,

Independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

, align="right" , 1,062,138 , align="right" , 22.88 , - , style="width: 5px" bgcolor=darkred align="center" , , align=left, Marisa Matias , align=left, Left Bloc, Socialist Alternative Movement , align="right" , 469,814 , align="right" , 10.12 , - , style="width: 5px" bgcolor=#777777 align="center" , , align=left, Maria de Belém , align=left,

, align="right" , 196,765 , align="right" , 4.24 , - , style="width: 5px" bgcolor=red align="center" , , align=left, Edgar Silva , align=left,

Ecologist Party "The Greens" The Ecologist Party "The Greens" ( pt, Partido Ecologista "Os Verdes", , PEV) is a Portuguese eco-socialist political party. It is a member of the European Greens and a founding member of the European Federation of Green Parties. It was the ...

, align="right" , 183,051 , align="right" , 3.94 , - , style="width: 5px" bgcolor=#777777 align="center" , , align=left, Vitorino Silva , align=left,

, align="right" , 152,374 , align="right" , 3.28 , - , style="width: 5px" bgcolor=#777777 align="center" , , align=left, Paulo de Morais , align=left,

, align="right" , 100,191 , align="right" , 2.16 , - , style="width: 5px" bgcolor=#777777 align="center" , , align=left, Henrique Neto , align=left,

, align="right" , 39,163 , align="right" , 0.84 , - , style="width: 5px" bgcolor=#777777 align="center" , , align=left, Jorge Sequeira , align=left,

, align="right" , 13,954 , align="right" , 0.30 , - , style="width: 5px" bgcolor=#777777 align="center" , , align=left, Cândido Ferreira , align=left,

, align="right" , 10,609 , align="right" , 0.23 , - , colspan="3" align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9", Total valid , width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 4,642,015 , width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 100.00 , - , align=right colspan="3", Blank ballots , width="65" align="right" , 58,964 , width="40" align="right" , 1.24 , - , align=right colspan="3" , Invalid ballots , width="65" align="right", 43,588 , width="40" align="right", 0.92 , - , colspan="3" align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9", Total , width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", 4,744,597 , width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9", , - , colspan=3, Registered voters/turnout , , 9,751,398, , 48.66 , - , colspan=5 align=left, Source
Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Maps

File:Eleições presidenciais 2016.PNG, Strongest candidate by electoral district. File:Mapa dos resultados da eleição presidencial de Portugal em 2016.png, Strongest candidate by

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

: Marcelo - orange; Nóvoa - magenta; Edgar Silva - red.

Notes

References

External links

Official results site, Portuguese Justice Ministry

Portuguese Electoral Commission

ERC - Official publication of polls
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portuguese Presidential Election, 2016 2016 elections in Portugal

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

January 2016 events in Portugal