Portugal - Politics - 2021 Presidential Election
Decree No. 60-A / 2020 if 24 November 2020 set the date for the election of the President of the Portuguese Republic for 24 January 2021. At stake is a post with the power to dissolve parliament and call fresh elections -- a pivotal constitutional role with a minority government in power.
Portugal, which includes the archipelagos of the Azores and Madeira, is a constitutional semipresidential representative democracy with a president, prime minister, and parliament elected in multiparty elections. Observers considered elections free and fair. The constitution and law provide citizens the ability to choose their government in free and fair periodic elections held by secret ballot and based on universal and equal suffrage. Enrolment in the Electoral Register is carried out according to the address indicated on the Citizen Card, both for nationals residing in national territory and for nationals residing abroad.
Voters who are notoriously ill or physically handicapped and whom the bureau finds unable to vote alone may be accompanied by another voter of their choice. If the bureau has doubts about the notoriety of the illness or physical disability, it may require a certificate proving the impossibility of voting alone. Portuguese citizens over 18 years of age who are registered in the Portuguese electoral register, at home or abroad, and Brazilian citizens who have the status of equal political rights can vote.
The President of the Republic is the Head of State. Thus, under the Constitution, he “represents the Portuguese Republic”, “is the guarantor national independence, the unity of the State and the proper working of the democratic institutions” and “is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces”. As Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, the President of the Republic occupies the senior position in the hierarchy of the Armed Forces.
As guarantor of the proper working of the democratic institutions he is especially charged, under his oath at the time of his inauguration, with “defending and complying and ensuring compliance with the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic”. The democratic legitimacy that is his as a result of his direct election by the Portuguese is the reason for the formal and informal powers that the Constitution explicitly or implicitly grants to him, powers that the various presidents of the Republic have used.
One of the most important duties of the president of the Republic in the day-to-day life of the country is political control of the legislative activity of the other sovereign bodies. The president has no legislative powers, it is true, but he is charged with promulgating (that is, with signing), followed by publication, the laws of the Assembly of the Republic and the government’s decrees-law or regulatory decrees. Until they are promulgated such acts are juridically non-existent. However, the president is not obliged to promulgate, and he may therefore, under certain conditions, exert considerable influence over the content of the legislation. In certain cases a political veto by the president will oblige the main political parties having a seat in the Assembly of the Republic to reach agreement if they are to overturn the veto.
The type of powers held by the president therefore has little to do with the classical three-way division of powers between the executive, the legislative and the judicial. His powers are much closer to the idea of a moderating power (particularly his powers of control or negative powers, such as the veto, although the Head of State, besides these duties, also has competence in political guidance, especially in the event of political crises, in times of a state of exception and in matters of defence and international relations). However, over and above this, the President of the Republic may make particularly intense use of the symbolic attributes of his position and of his important informal powers. Under the Constitution he is charged, for example, with expressing his opinion “on all serious emergencies affecting the life of the Republic”. All the ceremonies he attends, his speeches, his communications to the country, his travels in Portugal and abroad, his interviews, his audiences or contacts with the people, these are all political opportunities of extraordinary scope in mobilising the country and the citizens.
Portuguese voters ventured out despite the country's pandemic lockdown on Sunday 25 January 2021 for a presidential election widely expected to see center-right Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa win another term. Far-right candidate Andre Ventura could conceivably place second, likely far behind the incumbent. Polls pointed to a first-round win for Rebelo de Sousa, a former political commentator turned approachable head of state known for candid moments like queueing at the supermarket in shorts, plunging into the sea to help girls whose canoe had capsized or sharing a meal with homeless people. But observers had their eye on how a far-right challenger will perform -- and whether a plunge in turnout could produce an upset.
Portugal had been under a second national lockdown for the past 10 days aimed at braking a surge in coronavirus cases. Almost every new day brought a fresh record in case numbers, and the government shut schools for two weeks on top of shops and restaurants. The National Elections Commission (CNE) proposed the existence of more public transport so that the Portuguese can go to the polls on Sunday, January 24, presidential election day. In an official statement from CNE, considered “that the special transport of voters is an exception to the general rule referred to”. Thus, the CNE said that “special public transport can be organized to ensure voters' access to the places where polling stations and polling stations operate”.
In his final campaign speech, Rebelo de Sousa -- one of the rare politicians often referred to simply by his first name -- urged voters to back him so as to avoid a second round. That would "spare the Portuguese people from the election being stretched out over three crucial weeks" -- time that could be better spent slowing the pandemic, the former minister and co-founder of the centre-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) said.
"An abstention rate of 70 percent would be enough to make a second round almost unavoidable," the 72-year-old warned. Lower turnout could also upset the expected easy win for Rebelo de Sousa, with polls giving him 58 percent of the first-round vote -- far ahead of Ventura and socialist challenger Ana Gomes. A first-round re-election would fit in with Portugal's experience since adopting democratic government in 1974, with all four of the president's predecessors securing a second five-year term this way.
Nevertheless, in a long political career "I've seen more failures than victories, so I keep things in perspective", "Marcelo" said recently when asked if he hadn't been campaigning hard enough. "When I lost it wasn't the end of the world. And when I won, I didn't think I was the best."
Rebelo de Sousa's popularity with voters had not suffered from his indulgence of Prime Minister Antonio Costa's socialist minority government. He is so well-liked that the socialist party didn't even bother putting up a candidate, denying its backing to 66-year-old Gomes, a former diplomat and European lawmaker turned anti-corruption activist.
Andre Ventura, the 38-year-old founder of right-wing populist party Chega -- "Enough" -- says he is in the running to "crush the Left", which is fielding three out of the seven candidates. Portugal had so far been largely spared the anti-establishment surges from the right that have reshaped the political landscape in many larger EU nations in recent years.
Ventura secured his party's first and only parliamentary seat at 2019 legislative elections, winning the backing of 70,000 voters or 1.3 percent. Though its share of the popular vote was then marginal (1.3%), this was nonetheless a watershed moment as it put an end to Portuguese exceptionalism regarding the absence of far right forces in parliament.
France’s Marine Le Pen – president of the French National Union (aka National Front) – has praised André Ventura, the one MP representing right-wing Chega, as a “great political leader” who will take his party “to victory”. Ultimately Ventura hopes to take the party to the point that it becomes the 3rd major force in the country (behind PS and PSD). With both these traditional main parties already losing ground hand-over-fist in this unprecedented year beset with the usual scandals/ political ineptitude and financial uncertainty, societal dissatisfaction is almost certain to increase – thus Chega’s goal may not be that far-fetched.
Ventura's sharp rhetorical skills were capable of putting his adversaries on the defensive, developed in years as a TV commentator on football and true crime legal shows. It was anticipated that there will be no "cordon sanitaire" such as the one applied in Germany or in Sweden until recently. Chega was well on its way to becoming a political actor with systemic importance, with potential to directly influence policy outcomes.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has won Portugal’s presidential election, according to an exit poll. The survey by the Portuguese Catholic University’s Polling Center for public broadcaster RTP on Sunday indicated that Rebelo de Sousa captured between 57-62 percent of the vote to secure a second and final five-year term. Socialist candidate Ana Gomes came second with between 13-16 percent, the poll suggested. In a stunning result, newly arrived right-wing populist Andre Ventura came third with 9-12 percent, the poll indicated. Such a showing for an extremist in mainstream Portuguese politics would have been unthinkable until recently. The exit poll estimated the turnout at 45-50 percent, lower than in recent elections and apparently confirming concerns that some people would stay away for fear of becoming infected with COVID-19.
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