Portuguese presidential election, 2006

Portuguese presidential election, 2006
Portugal
22 January 2006
Turnout 61,53%
 
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 António Garcia Pereira
Party Communist BE PCTP/MRPP
Popular vote 8.64% 5.32% 0.44%
President before election

Jorge Sampaio
PS

 President-elect

Aníbal Cavaco Silva
PSD

Portugal
Coat of arms of Portugal
This article is part of a series on the
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The Portuguese presidential election were 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. 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 (50% + 1). 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:

Opinion polling

Date(s)
administered		 Poll source Sample size Others Lead
Cavaco
PSD, CDS-PP		 Soares
PS		 Alegre
Ind.		 Sousa
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

Candidate receiving most votes, per district (Azores and Madeira not shown)

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 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 (turnout 61.53%) 5,590,132
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%
Abstencion
  
 38.47%

See also

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