President of Portugal

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Template:Short description Template:For Template:Infobox official post Template:Politics of Portugal The president of Portugal, officially the president of the Portuguese Republic (Template:Langx, Template:IPA), is the head of state and highest office of Portugal.

The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, and their relation with the prime minister and cabinets have over time differed with the various Portuguese constitutions. Currently, in the Third Republic, a semi-presidential system, the president holds no direct executive power, unlike his counterparts in the United States and France. However, even though he is in general a ceremonial figure,<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> he holds some powers less-commonly found in parliamentary systems: one of his most significant responsibilities is the promulgation of all laws enacted by the Assembly of the Republic (parliament) or the Government (an act without which such laws have no legal validity), with an alternative option to veto them (although this veto can be overcome in the case of laws approved by Parliament) or send them to the Constitutional Court for appreciation of whether they violate the Constitution. This and other abilities imply that the president of Portugal does not fit clearly into either of the three traditional powers – legislative, executive and judicial –, acting instead as a sort of "moderating power" among the traditional three.<ref name="Presidency">Duties of the President – Head of State. Official Page of the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic. Retrieved 31 August 2021.</ref>

The current president of Portugal is Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who took office on 9 March 2016.

Role

The Portuguese Third Republic is a semi-presidential system. Despite being a rather ceremonial figure, unlike most European presidents, who are at large ceremonial figures, the Portuguese President is vested with more extensive powers. Although the prime minister and parliament oversee and direct much of Portugal's actual governmental affairs, the president wields significant influence and authority, especially in the fields of national security and foreign policy, however, always on the advice of the Government and the approval of Parliament. The president is the supreme commander of the Armed Forces, holds the nation's most senior office, and outranks all other politicians.<ref name="pt">Template:Cite web</ref>

Prior to the Carnation Revolution, the powers of the presidency varied widely; some presidents were virtual dictators (such as Pais, and Carmona in his early years), while others were little more than figureheads (such as Carmona in his later years, Craveiro Lopes, and Américo Tomás). During the Estado Novo, the president was nominally vested with near-dictatorial powers, but in practice supreme power was held by the President of the Council of Ministers (António de Oliveira Salazar and Marcelo Caetano).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Government nomination

The president's greatest power is their ability to appoint the prime minister. However, since the Assembly of the Republic has the sole power to dismiss the prime minister's government, the prime minister named by the president must have the confidence of a majority of representatives in the assembly, otherwise the prime minister may face a motion of no confidence. The president has the discretionary power to dissolve parliament when he/she sees fit (colloquially known as the "atomic bomb" in Portugal),<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> and President Jorge Sampaio made use of this prerogative in late 2004 to remove the controversial government of Pedro Santana Lopes, despite the absolute majority of deputies supporting the government.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Armed Forces

In 2003, President Sampaio also intervened to limit the Portuguese participation in the Iraq War – as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces he forbade the deployment of the Portuguese Army in a war that he personally disagreed with, clashing with the then–prime minister José Manuel Barroso.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Because of this, the Government eventually deployed 128 members of the National Republican Guard (GNR) to Iraq from 2003 to 2005, this being possible because the GNR, despite being a military force, was not part of the Armed Forces.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Powers

The constitution grants the following powers to the president:<ref name="CRP-EN">Template:Cite web</ref>

  • The President of the Republic exercises the functions of Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and Grand Master of the Three Orders, and appoints and dismisses, on a proposal from the Government, the Chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the heads of General Staff of the three branches of the Armed Forces.
  • The President of the Republic can dissolve the Assembly of the Republic, which implies the need to call new legislative elections and, after these have been held, the resignation of the Government.
  • The President of the Republic appoints the Prime Minister taking into account the electoral results and appoints the remaining members of the Government on the proposal of the Prime Minister. The President can, on the other hand, dismiss the Government when this becomes necessary to ensure the regular functioning of democratic institutions.
  • The governing bodies of the autonomous regions may be dissolved by the President of the Republic, for carrying out serious acts contrary to the Constitution.
  • The President of the Republic declares the state of siege and emergency, after hearing the Government and under authorization from the Assembly of the Republic.
  • Upon a proposal from the Government and with authorization from the Assembly of the Republic, the President of the Republic may declare war in the event of effective or imminent aggression and make peace.
  • The President of the Republic promulgates or signs and, consequently, can veto the promulgation or signature of laws, decree-laws, regulatory decrees and other Government decrees.
  • In the domain of his competences in international relations, the President of the Republic ratifies international treaties.
  • The President of the Republic decides on the convening of the referendum whose holding is proposed by the Assembly of the Republic.
  • The President of the Republic may request the Constitutional Court to pre-empt the constitutionality of norms contained in international conventions or decrees that have been sent to him for promulgation as an organic law, law or decree-law.
  • The President of the Republic appoints and exonerates, in some cases on a proposal from the Government, holders of important State bodies such as the Representatives of the Republic for the autonomous regions, the President of the Court of Auditors and the Attorney General of the Republic, five members of the Council of State and two members of the Superior Council of the Judiciary.
  • The President of the Republic appoints the ambassadors and extraordinary envoys, on a proposal from the Government, and accredits the foreign diplomatic representatives.
  • The President of the Republic, after hearing the Government, pardons and commutes sentences.

Election

Under the Portuguese Constitution adopted in 1976, in the wake of the 1974 Carnation Revolution, the president is elected to a five-year term. In order to be eligible, any citizen has to be of Portuguese origin and above 35 years old.<ref name="pt" /> He may be reelected any number of times, but not more than twice in a row.<ref name="CRP-EN" /> The official residence of the Portuguese president is the Belém Palace in Lisbon.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

The president is elected in a two-round system: if no candidate reaches 50% of the votes during the first round, the two candidates with the most votes face each other in a second round held two weeks later. However, the second round has only been needed once, during the 1986 presidential election. To date, all of the elected presidents since the Carnation Revolution have served for two consecutive terms, and presidents consistently rank as the most popular political figure in the country. During his time in office, however, the popularity of former president Aníbal Cavaco Silva plummeted, making him the second-least popular political figure in the country, just above the then-prime minister, and the first Portuguese president after 1974 to have a negative popularity.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> By 2024, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also displayed negative popularity ratings.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Succession

Under article 132 of the Constitution, if the president dies or becomes incapacitated while in office, the president of the Assembly assumes the office with restricted powers until a new president can be inaugurated following fresh elections.

President's residence

Template:Main

Belém Palace is the official residence of the President of the Portuguese Republic since 1910. Built in the 16th century by a high ranking diplomat named Manuel de Portugal, was bought by King John V in the 18th century and served as one of the residence of the Royal Family until the early 20th century.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, current President, lives in the palace.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Last election

2021 presidential election

Template:Main Template:Election table |- !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|Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa |align=left|Social Democratic Party, People's Party |align="right" |2,531,692 |align="right" |60.66 |- |style="width: 5px" bgcolor=#D02090 align="center" | |align=left|Ana Gomes |align=left|Independent supported by People–Animals–Nature, LIVRE |align="right" |540,823 |align="right" |12.96 |- |style="width: 5px" bgcolor=#202056 align="center" | |align=left|André Ventura |align=left|CHEGA |align="right" |497,746 |align="right" |11.93 |- |style="width: 5px" bgcolor=red align="center" | |align=left|João Ferreira |align=left|Portuguese Communist Party, Ecologist Party "The Greens" |align="right" |179,764 |align="right" |4.31 |- |style="width: 5px" bgcolor=Template:Party color align="center" | |align=left|Marisa Matias |align=left|Left Bloc, Socialist Alternative Movement |align="right" |165,127 |align="right" |3.96 |- |style="width: 5px" bgcolor=#00ADEF align="center" | |align=left|Tiago Mayan Gonçalves |align=left|Liberal Initiative |align="right" |134,991 |align="right" |3.23 |- |style="width: 5px" bgcolor=LightSeaGreen align="center" | |align=left|Vitorino Silva |align=left|React, Include, Recycle |align="right" |123,031 |align="right" |2.95 |- |colspan="3" align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total valid |width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,173,174 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|100.00 |- |align=right colspan="3"|Blank ballots |width="65" align="right" |47,164 |width="40" align="right" |1.11 |- |align=right colspan="3" |Template:EfnInvalid ballots |width="65" align="right"|38,018 |width="40" align="right"|0.89 |- |colspan="3" align=left style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|Total |width="65" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"|4,258,356 |width="40" align="right" style="background-color:#E9E9E9"| |- |colspan=3|Registered voters/turnout ||10,847,434||39.26 |- |colspan=5 align=left|Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições |}

Travel

Graphical timeline (since 1910)

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 id:PR      value:rgb(0.04,0.85,0.31)    legend:Republican
 id:PD      value:rgb(0.945,0.475,0.475) legend:Democratic
 id:PNR     value:rgb(0.29,0.27,0.16)    legend:National_Republican/Sidonist
 id:PRE/PLR value:rgb(0,0,0.55)          legend:Evolutionist/Republican_Liberal
 id:IND     value:rgb(0.50,0.50,0.50)    legend:None_(Nonpartisan)
 id:UN/ANP  value:rgb(0,0.28,0.67)       legend:National_Union/Popular_National_Action
 id:PRD     value:rgb(0,0.50,0)          legend:Democratic_Renewal
 id:PS      value:rgb(1,0.40,1)          legend:Socialist
 id:PSD     value:rgb(1,0.60,0)          legend:Social_Democratic
 id:gray1 value:gray(0.8)
 id:gray2 value:gray(0.9)
 id:grid   value:gray(0.5)

DateFormat = dd/mm/yyyy Period = from:01/01/1910 till:{{#time:d/m/Y}} TimeAxis = orientation:horizontal ScaleMajor = gridcolor:gray1 unit:year increment:5 start:1915 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:gray2 unit:year increment:1 start:1910

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 bar:ÓscarCarmona
 bar:OliveiraSalazar
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 bar:MarceloRebelodeSousa

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 at: 05/10/1910 color:grid layer:back width:0.1
 at: 30/05/1926 color:grid layer:back width:0.1
 at: 05/07/1932 color:grid layer:back width:0.1
 at: 25/04/1974 color:grid layer:back width:0.1

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 from:05/10/1910 till:24/08/1911 color:PR
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 from:05/10/1915 till:05/12/1917 color:PD
 from:11/12/1925 till:31/05/1926 color:PD      text:"Machado" fontsize:10
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 from:28/04/1918 till:14/12/1918 color:PNR     text:"Pais" fontsize:10
bar:CantoeCastro
 from:14/12/1918 till:05/10/1919 color:PNR     text:"Canto e Castro" fontsize:10
bar:AntónioJosédeAlmeida
 from:05/10/1919 till:05/10/1923 color:PRE/PLR text:"Almeida" fontsize:10
bar:ManuelTeixeiraGomes
 from:05/10/1923 till:11/12/1925 color:PD      text:"Teixeira Gomes" fontsize:10
bar:MendesCabeçadas
 from:31/05/1926 till:17/06/1926 color:IND     text:"Mendes Cabeçadas" fontsize:10
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 from:17/06/1926 till:09/07/1926 color:IND     text:"Gomes da Costa" fontsize:10
bar:ÓscarCarmona
 from:09/07/1926 till:05/09/1932 color:IND
 from:05/09/1932 till:18/04/1951 color:UN/ANP  text:"Carmona" fontsize:10
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 from:09/08/1958 till:25/04/1974 color:UN/ANP  text:"Tomás" fontsize:10
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 from:25/04/1974 till:30/09/1974 color:IND     text:"Spínola" fontsize:10
bar:CostaGomes
 from:30/09/1974 till:13/07/1976 color:IND     text:"Costa Gomes" fontsize:10
bar:RamalhoEanes
 from:13/07/1976 till:10/07/1985 color:IND
 from:10/07/1985 till:09/03/1986 color:PRD     text:"Eanes" fontsize:10
bar:MárioSoares
 from:09/03/1986 till:09/03/1996 color:PS      text:"Soares" fontsize:10
bar:JorgeSampaio
 from:09/03/1996 till:09/03/2006 color:PS      text:"Sampaio" fontsize:10
bar:CavacoSilva
 from:09/03/2006 till:09/03/2016 color:PSD     text:"Cavaco Silva" fontsize:10  
bar:MarceloRebelodeSousa
 from:09/03/2016 till:end        color:PSD     text:"Rebelo de Sousa" fontsize:10 
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 at:05/10/1918 $centerpos2  text:"1st Republic"
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 at:05/07/1953 $centerpos2  text:"Estado Novo" 
 at:25/04/1998 $centerpos2  text:"3rd Republic"
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 at:05/07/1953 $centerpos1  text:"(1932–1974)" 
 at:25/04/1998 $centerpos1  text:"(1974–present)"

</timeline>

State visits

Template:Main list

Historical rankings of presidents

Rankings of presidents
President Party Tenure Template:Abbr<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Abbr<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Abbr<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Abbr<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Abbr<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Template:Abbr<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
António Ramalho Eanes Ind./PRD 1976–1986 26.7% 25.7% 28.4% 29% 30% 32%
Jorge Sampaio PS 1996–2006 17.3% 22.3% 19.2% 26% 24% 23%
Aníbal Cavaco Silva PSD 2006–2016 4.5% 6.7% 7.7% 10% 12% 12%
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa PSD 2016–present Template:Party shading/PSD;" align="right"|39.4% Template:Party shading/PSD;" align="right"| 27.0% 15.9% 14% 13% 12%
Mário Soares PS 1986–1996 8.8% 8.8% 10.8% 15% 14% 12%
Other/Undecided 3.3% 9.5% 18.0% Template:Efn6% 7% Template:Efn9%

See also

Notes

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References

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Template:Heads of state of the European Union member states Template:Heads of state and government of Europe Template:Authority control