2006 Portuguese presidential election

A Portuguese presidential election was held on 22 January 2006 to elect a successor to the incumbent President Jorge Sampaio, who was term-limited from running for a third consecutive term by the Constitution of Portugal. The result was a victory in the first round for Aníbal Cavaco Silva of the Social Democratic Party candidate, the former Prime Minister, won 50.54 percent of the vote in the first round, just over the majority required to avoid a runoff election. It was the first time in which a right-wing candidate was elected President of the Republic since the 1974 Carnation Revolution.

2006 Portuguese presidential election
22 January 2006
Turnout61.5% 11.8 pp
 
Candidate Aníbal Cavaco Silva Manuel Alegre Mário Soares
Party PSD Independent PS
Popular vote 2,773,431 1,138,297 785,355
Percentage 50.5% 20.7% 14.3%
 
Candidate Jerónimo de Sousa Francisco Louçã
Party PCP BE
Popular vote 474,083 292,198
Percentage 8.6% 5.3%
President before election

Jorge Sampaio
PS

 Elected President

Aníbal Cavaco Silva
PSD

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Voter turnout was 61.53 percent for eligible voters.

Procedure

Any Portuguese citizen over 35 years old has the opportunity to run for president. In order to do so it is necessary to gather between 7500 and 15000 signatures and submit them to the Portuguese Constitutional Court.

According to the Portuguese Constitution, to be elected, a candidate needs a majority of votes. If no candidate gets this majority there will take place a second round between the two most voted candidates.

Political context

In the presidential election of 14 January 2001, the outgoing Socialist Jorge Sampaio was re-elected in the first round with 55% of votes. Because he was term-limited, he was forbidden, by the Constitution, to run for a third consecutive term.

In the parliamentary elections of 20 February 2005, the Socialist Party, led by José Sócrates, won for the first time in its history an absolute majority of seats, while the Social Democratic Party led by Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes fell below 30%, their worst result since 1983.

To cope with the bad fiscal situation, the government introduced a policy of fiscal restraint, combining higher taxes, lower public treatments and privatization. This policies were not popular and as a result, the Socialists were defeated in the local elections on 9 October 2005. In the follow up for the presidential elections, the Socialists decided to nominate their former secretary-general, Mário Soares, President of the Republic between 1986 and 1996. This decision divided the party, which led Manuel Alegre, a member of the party parliamentary group, to announce his candidature as an independent. The Social Democratic Party opted to support their former leader Aníbal Cavaco Silva, Prime Minister from 1985 to 1995, and presidential candidate defeated in 1996.

Candidates

Thirteen citizens sought election officially, but only six gathered the 7,500 signatures required under the constitution to be a candidate in the poll:

Official candidates

All the candidates except for Cavaco Silva are considered to be from the Portuguese political left.

Unsuccessful candidacies

The other potential candidates who, according to the Constitutional Court, did not gather enough signatures, were:

  • Josué Rodrigues Gonçalo Pedro;
  • Luís Filipe Guerra, leader of the Humanist Party;
  • Teresa Lameiro;
  • Manuela Magno, nuclear physicist;
  • Carmelinda Pereira, leader of the Workers Party of Socialist Unity (POUS);
  • Luís Botelho Ribeiro; and
  • Diamantino da Silva;

Campaign period

Party slogans
Candidate Original slogan English translation Refs
Aníbal Cavaco Silva « Portugal Maior » "Greater Portugal" [1]
Mário Soares « Sempre presente nos momentos difíceis » "Always present in difficult times" [2]
Manuel Alegre « O poder dos cidadãos » "The power of citizens" [3]
Jerónimo de Sousa « Com toda a confiança » "With all confidence" [4]
Francisco Louçã « Rigor, Solidariedade » "Rigor, Solidarity" [5]
António Garcia Pereira « A coragem de mudar de rumo » "The courage to change course" [6]

Candidates' debates
2006 Portuguese presidential election debates
Date Organisers Moderator(s)     P  Present    A  Absent invitee  N  Non-invitee 
Cavaco Soares Alegre Jerónimo Louçã Refs
5 Dec 2005 SIC Rodrigo Guedes de Carvalho,
Ricardo Costa		 P N P N N [7]
8 Dec 2005 RTP1 N P N P N [7]
9 Dec 2005 TVI Constança Cunha e Sá,
Miguel Sousa Tavares		 P N N N P [7]
12 Dec 2005 RTP1 N N P N P [7]
13 Dec 2005 TVI Constança Cunha e Sá,
Miguel Sousa Tavares		 N P P N N [7]
14 Dec 2005 SIC Rodrigo Guedes de Carvalho,
Ricardo Costa		 P N N P N [7]
15 Dec 2005 RTP1 Judite de Sousa,
José Alberto Carvalho		 N N N P P [7]
16 Dec 2005 SIC N P N N P [7]
19 Dec 2005 TVI N N P P N [7]
20 Dec 2005 RTP1 Judite de Sousa,
José Alberto Carvalho		 P P N N N [7]

Opinion polling
Date(s)
administered		 Poll source Sample size Others Lead
Silva
PSD, CDS-PP		 Soares
PS		 Alegre
Ind.		 Jerónimo
PCP		 Louçã
BE		 Pereira
PCTP
22 January 2006 Election Results N/A 50.5 14.3 20.7 8.6 5.3 0.4
—
 29.8 over Alegre
15–18 Jan Marktest 1,416 53.0 12.4 20.6 7.0 6.5 0.5
—
 32.4 over Alegre
15–18 Jan Eurosondagem 3,058 53.0 16.9 16.2 7.2 5.8 0.9
—
 36.1 over Soares
15–18 Jan Aximage 1,003 52.5 15.4 19.5 6.5 5.5 0.8
—
 33.0 over Alegre
14–15 Jan UCP-CESOP 1,003 52.0 15.0 19.0 7.0 6.0 1.0
—
 33.0 over Alegre
12–15 Jan Marktest 812 54.6 13.1 18.4 6.6 6.4 0.8 36.2 over Alegre
9–11 Jan Marktest 608 56.8 12.8 15.6 7.8 6.5 0.4 41.2 over Alegre
9–11 Jan Pitagórica 605 54.7 12.4 15.9 8.7 7.1 1.3
—
 38.8 over Alegre
9–11 Jan Intercampus 1,010 52.4 17.0 17.4 6.9 5.8 0.4
—
 35.0 over Alegre
4–7 Jan Marktest 608 61.0 14.3 11.5 6.9 6.1 0.3 46.7 over Soares
3–5 Jan Aximage 570 61.0 15.0 11.0 4.0 7.0 1.0 46.0 over Soares
3–4 Jan UCP-CESOP 815 60.0 13.0 16.0 7.0 4.0 0.0 44.0 over Alegre
2006
11–14 Dec Eurosondagem 2,069 55.5 20.4 12.5 5.7 4.8 1.1 35.1 over Soares
30 Nov–2 Dec Aximage 560 58.0 17.0 14.0 6.0 5.0 0.0 41.0 over Soares
25 Nov–1 Dec GEMEO/IPAM 600 63.0 15.0 16.0 3.0 3.0 0.0 47.0 over Alegre
20–24 Nov Intercampus 1,001 57.0 15.0 17.0 6.0 5.0 0.0 40.0 over Alegre
21–22 Nov UCP-CESOP 805 57.0 16.0 17.0 5.0 4.0 1.0 40.0 over Alegre
15–19 Nov Marktest 801 56.0 13.0 19.0 6.0 6.0 0.0 37.0 over Alegre
7–8 Nov Aximage 544 58.0 12.0 19.0 6.0 4.0 1.0 39.0 over Alegre
3–8 Nov Eurosondagem 1,577 52.6 18.0 16.9 5.6 6.2 0.6 34.6 over Soares
18–21 Oct Marktest 805 58.0 12.0 16.0 5.0 6.0 2.0 42.0 over Alegre
17–19 Oct Aximage 582 62.0 11.0 17.0 4.0 3.0 2.0 45.0 over Alegre
2005

Results
  Summary of the 22 January 2006 Portuguese presidential election results
Candidates Supporting parties First round
Votes %
Aníbal Cavaco Silva Social Democratic Party, People's Party 2,773,431 50.54
Manuel Alegre Independent 1,138,297 20.74
Mário Soares Socialist Party 785,355 14.31
Jerónimo de Sousa Portuguese Communist Party, Ecologist Party "The Greens" 474,083 8.64
Francisco Louçã Left Bloc 292,198 5.32
António Garcia Pereira Portuguese Workers' Communist Party 23,983 0.44
Total valid 5,487,347 100.00
Blank ballots 59,636 1.07
Invalid ballots 43,149 0.77
Total 5,590,132
Registered voters/turnout 9,085,33961.53
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições
Vote share 1st Round
Aníbal Cavaco Silva
 
 50.54%
Manuel Alegre
 
 20.74%
Mário Soares
 
 14.31%
Jerónimo de Sousa
 
 8.64%
Francisco Louçã
 
 5.32%
António Garcia Pereira
 
 0.44%
Blank/Invalid
 
 1.84%

Maps
  • Strongest candidate by electoral district. (Azores and Madeira not shown)
  • Strongest candidate by municipality.

See also

References
  1. "Os cartazes das eleições presidenciais desde 1976". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  2. "Os cartazes das eleições presidenciais desde 1976". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  3. "Os cartazes das eleições presidenciais desde 1976". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  4. "Os cartazes das eleições presidenciais desde 1976". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  5. "ELEIÇÕES PRESIDENCIAIS DE 2006 – BE – FRANCISCO LOUÇA". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  6. "Os cartazes das eleições presidenciais desde 1976". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  7. "Cinco candidatos na arena televisiva". Público (in Portuguese). 5 December 2005. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
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