Latest news and stories about election campaign in history in Portugal for expats and residents.
CNN Portugal commentator Mafalda Anjos analyzes Pedro Passos Coelho's positioning as a unifier for the Portuguese right, amid rising discussions about his potential return to party politics and the strategic challenges facing PSD leader Luís Montenegro.
The return of former Prime Minister Passos Coelho to the political scene has generated significant excitement. Coelho has openly criticized his successor, Luís Montenegro, for failing to form a legislative agreement with Chega and IL, despite having a parliamentary majority. He suggests that an alliance with Chega could benefit the PSD, despite the party's historical stance against racist rhetoric. Coelho also questions Montenegro's commitment to reforms, highlighting his own past austerity measures that cut pensions and social support. His shifting positions raise concerns about his integrity and the authenticity of his reformist agenda.
During a televised debate, André Ventura attacked his rival, João Ferreira Seguro, and directed insults at a lone dissenting attendee who displayed a placard defending the 25 April revolution, as well as at journalists. The incident punctuated a session that had briefly shifted public attention away from Storm Kristin and highlighted growing tensions in the campaign, with Ventura returning to personal attacks on Seguro. The episode underscores mounting polarisation in the race, potential risks for media access and civil protest at events, and how external crises can be eclipsed by incendiary rhetoric.
Chega-backed presidential candidate André Ventura appealed to Portuguese emigrants in Switzerland to participate in the second round, arguing that, for the first time in democratic history, their votes “will be decisive.” He framed the contest as an opportunity to “change the system,” accusing PSD, CDS and IL of colluding with Seguro in a “cosy arrangement of interests,” and urged emigrants to cast a decisive vote in the run-off.
International newspapers in Spain, France and the United Kingdom focused on the unexpected second‑round face‑off between the far‑right and surprise Socialist candidate António José Seguro, noting the upset dynamics reshaping the presidential contest. Coverage emphasised Seguro’s rapid rise and the setback for centre‑right figure Luís Marques Mendes, framing the result as a test of party realignments and voter sentiment ahead of the decisive round. Commentators analysed the implications for domestic politics and Europe‑wide far‑right momentum.
Forty years ago, Marinha Grande was the scene of an incident that proved decisive for Mário Soares's campaign. Today the municipality is going through another crisis and few can focus on the presidential election.
What would the choice of the ever-present Francisco Sá Carneiro be?
Forty years after the decisive face-to-face between Soares and Freitas, Seguro and Ventura re‑enacted the two-way duel in a presidential runoff. There were some points of contact and many differences.
On Tuesday there will be a debate between the candidates who qualified for the second round of the presidential election. Forty years ago, also here on RTP, the two candidates who went through to the second round faced each other for the final time.
A documentary portrait of the 1986 presidential election by Ivan Nunes and Paulo Pena was made to prompt reflection on the present. It serves as a companion series to the 2026 elections.
Until this Sunday, Portugal had experienced a run-off only once. In 1986, Mário Soares faced Diogo Freitas do Amaral in a presidential election that went down in history. We hear the memories of those who ran the campaigns at the time, with pointers for those contesting in three weeks' time.
Mário Crespo and Henrique Garcia recall the 1986 presidential elections, one of the most intense in the history of Portuguese democracy.
In this episode of 'History Repeats Itself', Margarida de Magalhães Ramalho and Lourenço Pereira Coutinho invited journalist João Reis Alves, author of the book 'The Second Round, 1986: the elections that changed the country', to discuss the historic 1986 presidential elections. What was the Portuguese political, economic and social context on the eve of those elections?
Posters have long been a staple of political campaigns. They are the communication category with the highest projected spending for the 2026 presidential election, in a contest that puts Luís Marques Mendes in the lead. But what about the past of this communication tool? What stories do the campaigns of 1976, 1986, 1996, ... tell about Portugal?
The Portuguese Genealogy Association has uncovered family ties linking André Ventura to two other candidates and to a Church member who was persecuted by the PIDE and nicknamed the 'revolutionary bishop'.
The candidate supported by Livre calls for a 'character impervious to any kind of corruption' in defence of the Portuguese Constitution, citing Salgueiro Maia as an example.
