| President of thePortuguese Republic | |
|---|---|
| Presidente da República Portuguesa | |
.svg) Coat of arms used by the presidency | |
 | |
| Presidential Office of the Portuguese Republic | |
| Style |
|
| Type | |
| Member of |
|
| Residence | Belém Palace |
| Seat | Lisbon, Portugal |
| Appointer | Direct election |
| Term length | Five years renewable once consecutively[1] |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of Portugal (1976) |
| Precursor | Monarch of Portugal and the Algarves |
| Formation | 24 August 1911 (114 years ago) (1911-08-24) |
| First holder | Manuel de Arriaga |
| Succession | Speaker, then one of its deputies per seniority |
| Salary | €137,662 annually[2] |
| Website | presidencia.pt |
 |
|---|
| Constitution |
Thepresident of Portugal, officially thepresident of the Portuguese Republic (Portuguese:Presidente da República Portuguesa,pronounced[pɾɨziˈðẽtɨðɐʁɛˈpuβlikɐpuɾtuˈɣezɐ]), is thehead of state and highest office ofPortugal.
The powers, functions and duties of prior presidential offices, and their relation with theprime minister and cabinets have over time differed with the variousPortuguese constitutions. Currently, in theThird Republic, asemi-presidential system, the president holds no direct executive power, unlike his counterparts in theUnited States andFrance. However, even though he is in general a ceremonial figure,[3] he holds some powers less-commonly found inparliamentary systems: one of his most significant responsibilities is thepromulgation of all laws enacted by theAssembly of the Republic (parliament) or theGovernment (an act without which such laws have no legal validity), with an alternative option toveto them (although this veto can be overcome in the case of laws approved by Parliament) or send them to theConstitutional 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 thethree traditional powers – legislative, executive and judicial –, acting instead as a sort of "moderating power" among the traditional three.[4]
The current president of Portugal isMarcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who took office on 9 March 2016.
The Portuguese Third Republic is asemi-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 theprime minister andparliament oversee and direct much of Portugal's actual governmental affairs, the president wields significant influence and authority, especially in the fields ofnational security andforeign policy, however, always on the advice of the Government and the approval of Parliament. The president is the supreme commander of theArmed Forces, holds the nation's most senior office, and outranks all other politicians.[5]
Prior to the Carnation Revolution, the powers of the presidency varied widely; some presidents were virtual dictators (such asPais, andCarmona in his early years), while others were little more thanfigureheads (such as Carmona in his later years,Craveiro Lopes, andAmérico Tomás). During theEstado Novo, the president was nominally vested with near-dictatorial powers, but in practice supreme power was held by thePresident of the Council of Ministers (António de Oliveira Salazar andMarcelo Caetano).[6][7]
The president's greatest power is their ability to appoint the prime minister. However, since theAssembly 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 amotion 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),[8] and PresidentJorge Sampaio made use of this prerogative in late 2004 to remove the controversial government ofPedro Santana Lopes, despite the absolute majority of deputies supporting the government.[9]
In 2003, President Sampaio also intervened to limit the Portuguese participation in theIraq War – as Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces he forbade the deployment of thePortuguese Army in a war that he personally disagreed with, clashing with the then–prime ministerJosé Manuel Barroso.[10] Because of this, the Government eventually deployed 128 members of theNational Republican Guard (GNR) toIraq from 2003 to 2005, this being possible because the GNR, despite being a military force, was not part of the Armed Forces.[11]
The constitution grants the following powers to the president:[12]
Under thePortuguese Constitution adopted in 1976, in the wake of the 1974Carnation 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.[5] He may be reelected any number of times, but not more than twice in a row.[12] The official residence of the Portuguese president is theBelém Palace inLisbon.[13]
The president is elected in atwo-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 the1986 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 presidentAníbal 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.[14] By 2024,Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also displayed negative popularity ratings.[15]
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.
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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 namedManuel de Portugal, was bought by KingJohn V in the 18th century and served as one of the residence of theRoyal Family until the early 20th century.[16]
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, current President, lives in the palace.[17]
| Candidates | Supporting parties | First round | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Votes | % | |||
| Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa | Social Democratic Party,People's Party | 2,531,692 | 60.66 | |
| Ana Gomes | Independent supported byPeople–Animals–Nature,LIVRE | 540,823 | 12.96 | |
| André Ventura | CHEGA | 497,746 | 11.93 | |
| João Ferreira | Portuguese Communist Party,Ecologist Party "The Greens" | 179,764 | 4.31 | |
| Marisa Matias | Left Bloc,Socialist Alternative Movement | 165,127 | 3.96 | |
| Tiago Mayan Gonçalves | Liberal Initiative | 134,991 | 3.23 | |
| Vitorino Silva | React, Include, Recycle | 123,031 | 2.95 | |
| Total valid | 4,173,174 | 100.00 | ||
| Blank ballots | 47,164 | 1.11 | ||
| [a]Invalid ballots | 38,018 | 0.89 | ||
| Total | 4,258,356 | |||
| Registered voters/turnout | 10,847,434 | 39.26 | ||
| Source:Comissão Nacional de Eleições | ||||
| President | Party | Tenure | 2018[18] | 2023[19] | 2024[20] | 2025[21] | 2025[22] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| António Ramalho Eanes | Ind./PRD | 1976–1986 | 26.7% | 25.7% | 28.4% | 29% | 30% |
| Jorge Sampaio | PS | 1996–2006 | 17.3% | 22.3% | 19.2% | 26% | 24% |
| Mário Soares | PS | 1986–1996 | 8.8% | 8.8% | 10.8% | 15% | 14% |
| Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa | PSD | 2016–present | 39.4% | 27.0% | 15.9% | 14% | 13% |
| Aníbal Cavaco Silva | PSD | 2006–2016 | 4.5% | 6.7% | 7.7% | 10% | 12% |
| Other/Undecided | 3.3% | 9.5% | 18.0% | [b]6% | 7% | ||
Em Portugal, o cargo político com maior salário bruto, e que serve de referência para o cálculo dos restantes salários, é o de Presidente da República, que aufere 9.833€ mensais, seguindo-se o de Presidente da Assembleia da República, com 8.849€, e o de Primeiro-ministro, com 8.296€.
Belém Palace has been the Official Residence of the President of the Republic since the establishment of the Republic in 1910.
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