2006 Portuguese presidential election

The 2006 Portuguese presidential election was held on 22 January 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
Opinion polls
Turnout61.5% Increase 11.8 pp
 
Aníbal Cavaco Silva (cropped).jpg
Presidenciais 2011 Manuel Alegre (cropped).png
Mário Soares (2003) portrait.jpg
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%
 
Jerónimo de Sousa 2007 (cropped).jpg
Francisco Louçã na VI Convenção Nacional do Bloco de Esquerda 01 cropped 2.jpg
Candidate Jerónimo de Sousa Francisco Louçã
Party PCP BE
Popular vote 474,083 292,198
Percentage 8.6% 5.3%
Results
President before election

Jorge Sampaio
PS

 Elected President

Aníbal Cavaco Silva
PSD

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 privatizations. Adding to this, a bad summer in terms of wildfires put more pressure in the government. 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
Official logo of the election.

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

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]
Candidate viewed as "most convincing" in each debate
Date Organisers Polling firm/Link
Cavaco Soares Alegre Jerónimo Louçã Refs
5 Dec 2005 SIC Eurosondagem 27.3 — 15.7 — — 57.0% Neither/Tie
12 Dec 2005 TVI Eurosondagem — 19.3 20.7 — — 60.0% Neither/Tie

Opinion polling
Main article: Opinion polling for the 2006 Portuguese presidential election

Voter turnout

The table below shows voter turnout throughout election day including voters from Overseas. Due to lack of data from the 2001 election, it's not possible to compare the turnout throughout election day between the two elections.

Turnout Time
12:00 16:00 19:00
2001 2006 2001 2006 2001 2006 ±
Total — 19.32% — 45.56% 49.71% 61.53% Increase 11.82 pp
Sources[8][9]

Results

National summary

Summary of the 22 January 2006 Portuguesepresidentialelection 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 First 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%

Results by district
District Cavaco Alegre Soares Jerónimo Louçã Garcia Pereira Turnout
Votes  % Votes  % Votes  % Votes  % Votes  % Votes  %
  Aveiro 228,343 59.74% 68,101 17.82% 51,696 13.52% 16,209 4.24% 16,668 4.36% 1,222 0.32% 65.06%
  Azores 45,065 55.57% 13,424 16.55% 16,001 19.73% 2,250 2.77% 4,018 4.95% 345 0.43% 43.04%
  Beja 21,708 27.33% 21,235 26.74% 10,633 13.39% 21,685 27.53% 3,649 4.59% 336 0.42% 58.41%
  Braga 266,000 56.98% 76,836 16.46% 73,257 15.69% 26,618 5.70% 22,661 4.85% 1,464 0.31% 67.61%
  Bragança 53,747 67.30% 12,714 15.92% 8,554 10.71% 2,183 2.73% 2,410 3.02% 253 0.32% 53.91%
  Castelo Branco 56,618 49.70% 26,401 23.17% 18,130 15.91% 6,799 5.97% 5,513 4.84% 466 0.41% 61.37%
  Coimbra 113,320 49.22% 62,908 27.32% 30,199 13.12% 13,157 5.71% 9,836 4.27% 830 0.36% 62.02%
  Évora 28,166 31.48% 24,334 27.19% 12,857 14.37% 19,836 22.17% 3,982 4.45% 305 0.34% 61.97%
  Faro 93,021 48.72% 44,268 23.18% 24,946 13.06% 14,540 7.61% 13,107 6.86% 1,064 0.56% 59.92%
  Guarda 58,568 60.33% 18,984 19.55% 11,557 11.90% 3,964 4.08% 3,608 3.72% 400 0.41% 58.26%
  Leiria 151,956 62.30% 42,424 17.39% 25,022 10.26% 12,324 5.05% 11,238 4.61% 955 0.39% 64.14%
  Lisbon 498,470 44.62% 266,680 23.87% 161,411 14.45% 119,116 10.66% 64,877 5.81% 6,497 0.58% 63.84%
  Madeira 76,598 58.47% 20,601 15.72% 15,595 11.90% 6,757 5.16% 10,206 7.79% 1,252 0.96% 58.19%
  Portalegre 24,544 37.80% 17,184 26.46% 10,609 16.34% 9,355 14.41% 2,988 4.60% 254 0.39% 60.96%
  Porto 487,852 51.29% 169,741 17.84% 168,772 17.74% 65,668 6.90% 55,959 5.88% 3,262 0.34% 66.16%
  Santarém 115,032 47.75% 56,585 23.49% 31,244 12.97% 23,408 9.72% 13,513 5.61% 1,119 0.46% 63.19%
  Setúbal 129,053 32.14% 109,052 27.16% 49,228 12.26% 85,117 21.20% 27,063 6.74% 1,984 0.49% 61.92%
  Viana do Castelo 83,542 60.64% 22,108 16.05% 18,816 13.66% 6,616 4.80% 6,145 4.46% 530 0.38% 59.47%
  Vila Real 78,465 64.61% 17,656 14.54% 17,131 14.11% 4,065 3.35% 3,738 3.08% 392 0.32% 55.17%
  Viseu 136,621 65.68% 33,841 16.27% 23,123 11.22% 6,660 3.20% 7,082 3.40% 692 0.33% 58.87%
  Overseas 12,048 64.63% 2,395 12.85% 2,732 14.66% 853 4.58% 495 2.66% 118 0.63% 10.07%
Source: 2006 Presidential election results

Maps
  • Strongest candidate by electoral district. (Azores and Madeira not shown)
    Strongest candidate by electoral district. (Azores and Madeira not shown)
  • Strongest candidate by municipality.
    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.
  8. "Presidenciais 2006". eleicoes.mai.gov.pt/Presidenciais2006/index.html (in Portuguese). Ministry of Internal Administration. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
  9. "Afluência às urnas nos 45,77% às 16:00". RTP (in Portuguese). 22 January 2006. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
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