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The admiral had criticised the Socialist Party (PS) candidate, recalling the pension cuts during the 'troika' period.

At 14:00, Seguro replies to Montenegro, stating that he is a moderate.


The opposition confined itself to a clamour for the Health Minister's resignation. The Government realised that, in the realm of the unreasonable, the best option was to carry on in the same vein. The debate was everything it shouldn't have been.

Marques Mendes attacks Cotrim de Figueiredo for saying he does not rule out any voting option in a second round in which he is not present. The candidate insists his campaign is not at risk and that it only ends in four weeks.

Ventura views Cotrim Figueiredo's position as natural but launches an attack on the Iniciativa Liberal. Meanwhile, Carneiro criticises Montenegro and accuses him of showing 'insensitivity' in healthcare.

António José Seguro, former Socialist Party leader, strongly criticises André Ventura in a sustained and heated attack on his positions.

In the end, the question is not who will be elected. The question is this: what idea of the Republic do we want the President to represent?


Ventura says it is inopportune to hold a Council of State during the presidential campaign. António Filipe also says there are five 'Government candidates', claiming one of them is Seguro.

In the midst of the presidential campaign, Ivan Nunes and Paulo Pena released a series about the same election, but from the heady year of 1986. A poorer country, more politically mobilised and with major candidates. What parallels can we draw? In the podcast “No Último Episódio”, film and television critic José Paiva Capucho hosts the authors of “A Duas Voltas”.

The candidate backed by the Socialist Party (PS) says he will not get involved in the exchange of accusations between Gouveia e Melo and Marques Mendes. Manuel Pizarro also issues a provocation aimed at Cavaco Silva.

The campaign day was a hangover from an 11-candidate debate that went well for Seguro, thanks to Jorge Pinto's intervention and Catarina Martins' inaction, and badly for Marques Mendes because of his reaction to Gouveia e Melo.
In RTP's 11-person debate, Gouveia e Melo confronts Marques Mendes with examples of a business facilitator.
Pedro Tadeu, a commentator for CNN Portugal, analyses the debate that brought the eleven presidential candidates face to face.

The cockfight between Gouveia e Melo and Marques Mendes doesn't bring either of them victory and only benefits Seguro. The debate was not very enlightening and showed that, after all, Livre is a one‑man party.

Venezuela and Greenland were also discussed in the debate among the 11 candidates. Also included are the reactions of Rui Borges and Luís Pinto after Vitória SC reached the League Cup final.

The RTP debate — the only one to include all 11 candidates — centred on personalised attacks and contrasting styles. Ventura and José Seguro were frequent targets while Rui Rio’s former ally Mendes emerged as the most aggressive, clashing chiefly with Admiral Gouveia e Melo; the two men’s exchange became the debate’s defining confrontation. Other notable dynamics included mutual restraint between Almirante and the Chega leader, André Pestana’s bold interventions, Manuel João Vieira’s ironic tone, and even criticism directed at Marcelo, suggesting a campaign increasingly shaped by personality and tactical barbs rather than detailed policy battles.

In a two-hour debate, candidates on the right discussed the legacy of Sá Carneiro.

The exchanges between Gouveia e Melo and Marques Mendes escalated in tone, with the Admiral again referring to a 'business facilitator' and Mendes replying 'vulgarity'. Seguro and Cotrim emerged unscathed.

The exchange of accusations and attacks between the PSD candidate and Gouveia e Melo ran throughout the debate among all candidates, where Jorge Pinto insisted he would not stand in the way of a victory for Seguro.
Marques Mendes and Gouveia e Melo produced the night's most tense moment. Ventura was very active. Cotrim and (especially) Seguro tried to rise above. The Left returned to the couch of resignation.

The 11-candidate presidential debate, held in two instalments across three topics, was overshadowed by a sustained personal clash between PSD’s Marques Mendes and independent candidate Henrique Gouveia e Melo. Mendes publicly rejected allegations of impropriety — insisting “I am not a facilitator of business deals” — and branded parts of the admiral’s conduct as “vulgarity,” a dispute that punctuated exchanges throughout the evening. Amid this confrontation, Jorge Pinto’s near withdrawal and his declaration that he would not stand in the way of a potential Seguro victory illustrated how interpersonal attacks and tactical moves risked eclipsing substantive policy debate.

CNN Portugal commentator Anselmo Crespo says that Marques Mendes's campaign is currently 'in damage control'.
