2011 Portuguese presidential election

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2011 Portuguese presidential election
← 2006 23 January 2011 2016 →
Opinion polls
Turnout46.5% Decrease 15.0 pp
  Cavaco Silva 2007 quadrada.jpg Manuel Alegre square.png Fernando Nobre 02 square.jpg
Candidate Aníbal Cavaco Silva Manuel Alegre Fernando Nobre
Party PSD PS Independent
Popular vote 2,231,956 831,838 593,021
Percentage 53.0% 19.7% 14.1%
 
Candidate Francisco Lopes
Party PCP
Popular vote 301,017
Percentage 7.1%
President before election

Aníbal Cavaco Silva
PSD

Elected President

Aníbal Cavaco Silva
PSD

The 2011 Portuguese presidential election was held on 23 January 2011. This election resulted in the re-election of Aníbal Cavaco Silva to a second term as President of Portugal. Turnout in this election was very low, where only 46.52% of the electorate cast their ballots. Cavaco Silva won by a landslide winning all 18 districts, both Autonomous regions of Azores and Madeira and 292 municipalities of a total of 308.

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 simple majority (50% + 1). If no candidate gets this majority there is a second round between the two most voted candidates.

Political context[]

During the 2006 presidential elections, former Prime Minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva, the only candidate of the center-right had won the ballot in the first round with 50.5% of the votes cast. He had faced two particular candidates from the ruling Socialist Party, the official candidate Mário Soares, former President of the Republic came in third with 14.3%, Manuel Alegre, a dissident, ranked second with 20.7% of votes. This historic victory of a conservative candidate, the first after the Carnation Revolution, inaugurated a period of "political cohabitation" with Socialist Prime Minister José Sócrates.

The general elections of September 2009 confirmed this situation, and brought the PS once again to power, however depriving him of his absolute majority. The situation of economic and financial crisis that the country lives led to the adoption of an austerity plan and budget for more frequent intervention of the Head of State in politics to promote agreement among political parties in the country.

Candidates[]

Official candidates[]

Unsuccessful candidacies[]

  • : Leader of the party. His application was formalised on Monday, 20 December, with over 8,000 signatures. His candidacy was analysed by the Constitutional Court. On 29 December, the court concluded that his candidacy did not meet the requirements provided by law.[9]
  • José Ribeiro e Castro: Member of the Democratic and Social Centre – People´s Party, speculated to run as an alternative right-wing candidate, because of Cavaco's decision to approve same-sex marriage. However, he did not go forward with his candidacy.[10]
  • José Pinto Coelho: Leader of the far-right National Renovator Party. He declared that his candidacy for the presidency was "cut short" by failing to gather the 7,500 signatures required. He claimed to have gathered 5,878 signatures.[11]

Campaign period[]

Party slogans[]

Candidate Original slogan English translation Refs
Aníbal Cavaco Silva « Acredito nos Portugueses » "I believe in the Portuguese" [12]
Manuel Alegre « Um Presidente justo e solidário » "A fair and supportive President" [13]
Fernando Nobre « Um Presidente como nós » "A President like us" [14]
Francisco Lopes « O voto certo na mudança necessária » "The right vote in the necessary change" [15]
« Contra a resignação » "Against resignation" [16]

Candidates' debates[]

2011 Portuguese presidential election debates
Date Organisers Moderator(s)     P  Present    A  Absent invitee  N  Non-invitee 
Cavaco Alegre Nobre Lopes Moura Refs
14 Dec 2010 RTP1 N N P P N [17]
16 Dec 2010 RTP1 N P N N P [17]
17 Dec 2010 SIC P N P N N [17]
18 Dec 2010 SIC N P N P N [17]
21 Dec 2010 TVI P N N P N [17]
22 Dec 2010 TVI N P P N N [17]
23 Dec 2010 SIC P N N N P [17]
27 Dec 2010 RTP1 N N P N P [17]
28 Dec 2010 TVI N N N P P [17]
29 Dec 2010 RTP1 P P N N N [17]

Opinion polling[]

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2011 Portuguese presidential election

Campaign Budgets[]

Candidate (party) Election
Result 		State Subsidy Political Parties
Contributions 		Fundraising Total Recipes Expenses Debt
Calculated Budgeted Calculated Budgeted
Cavaco Silva (PSD, CDS-PP, MEP) 53.0% €1,920,000 €1,570,000 €0 €550,000 €2,470,000 €2,120,000 €2,120,000 €0
Manuel Alegre (PS, BE, PDA, PCTP) 19.7% €836,000 €1,350,000 €500,000 €50,000 €1,386,000 €1,900,000 €1,640,000 €254,000
Fernando Nobre (I) 14.1% €653,000 €511,200 €0 €331,460 €984,460 €842,660 €842,660 €0
Francisco Lopes (PCP, PEV) 7.1% €425,000 €512,000 €270,000 €18,000 €713,000 €800,000 €800,000 €87,000
Defensor Moura (I) 1.6% €0 €225,000 €0 €25,000 €25,000 €250,000 €250,000 €225,000
José Manuel Coelho (PND) 4.5% €0 €10,000 €30,000 €50,000 €80,000 €90,000 €90,000 €10,000
Luís Botelho Ribeiro (PPV) - - €7,000 €0 €0 €7,000 €7,000 €7,000 €0
Source: Portuguese Constitutional Court (TC)[18]
(Note that some candidates filed with the TC, but did not pursue their candidacy.)

Results[]

Summary of the 23 January 2011 Portuguese presidential election results
Candidates Supporting parties First round
Votes %
Aníbal Cavaco Silva Social Democratic Party, People's Party, Hope for Portugal Movement 2,231,956 52.95
Manuel Alegre Socialist Party, Left Bloc, Portuguese Workers' Communist Party 831,838 19.74
Fernando Nobre Independent 593,021 14.07
Francisco Lopes Portuguese Communist Party, Ecologist Party "The Greens" 301,017 7.14
José Manuel Coelho New Democracy Party 189,918 4.51
Independent 67,110 1.59
Total valid 4,214,860 100.00
Blank ballots 192,127 4.28
Invalid ballots 85,466 1.90
Total 4,492,453
Registered voters/turnout 9,657,312 46.52
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições
Vote share 1st Round
Aníbal Cavaco Silva
 
 52.95%
Manuel Alegre
 
 19.74%
Fernando Nobre
 
 14.07%
Francisco Lopes
 
 7.14%
José Manuel Coelho
 
 4.51%
Defensor Moura
 
 1.59%
Blank/Invalid
 
 6.18%

Maps[]

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

  • Strongest candidate by municipality.

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ "Cavaco Silva recandidata-se para "ajudar o país a encontrar um rumo para o futuro"". SIC Notícias (in Portuguese). 26 October 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  2. ^ "PSD convoca Conselho Nacional para declarar "apoio inequívoco" a Cavaco Silva". SIC Notícias (in Portuguese). 26 October 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Manuel Alegre anuncia candidatura à Presidência da República". Público (in Portuguese). 15 January 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  4. ^ "Fernando Nobre candidato à Presidência da República". Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). 17 February 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  5. ^ "Defensor Moura quer pôr fim a hábito de reeleger presidente". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 1 August 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  6. ^ "Francisco Lopes é o candidato presidencial escolhido pelo PCP". SIC Notícias (in Portuguese). 24 August 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  7. ^ "Os Verdes apoiam Francisco Lopes, o único que "corta com os caminhos da direita" do Governo". SIC Notícias (in Portuguese). 13 November 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  8. ^ "PND apoia candidatura de José Manuel Coelho à Presidência da República". SIC Notícias (in Portuguese). 14 November 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  9. ^ "Tribunal rejeita recurso de Luís Botelho Ribeiro". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 3 January 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  10. ^ "Presidenciais: Ribeiro e Castro não apresenta candidatura". Expresso (in Portuguese). 9 October 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  11. ^ "Líder do PNR desiste da candidatura a Belém". TVI24 (in Portuguese). 22 December 2010. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  12. ^ "Os cartazes das eleições presidenciais desde 1976". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  13. ^ "ELEIÇÕES PRESIDENCIAIS DE 2011 – CANDIDATURA DE MANUEL ALEGRE". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  14. ^ "ELEIÇÕES PRESIDENCIAIS DE 2011 – CANDIDATURA DE FERNANDO NOBRE". EPHEMERA (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  15. ^ "Os cartazes das eleições presidenciais desde 1976". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  16. ^ "Os cartazes das eleições presidenciais desde 1976". Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  17. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Primeiro debate televisivo no dia 14 e último a 29". Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 7 December 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  18. ^ Campaign Budgets for the 2011 Presidential election, Portuguese Constitutional Court, retrieved 24 December 2010.

External links[]

Official campaign websites
Other websites
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