A presidential election was held in Portugal on 14 January 1996.
Incumbent president Mário Soares was constitutionally barred from a third consecutive term. The Social Democrats were coming from a clear defeat in the 1995 Portuguese legislative election, and their former leader, Aníbal Cavaco Silva, who had left the office of Prime Minister after 10 years at the helm, ran against the Mayor of Lisbon, Jorge Sampaio. This was a rematch of the 1991 legislative election, where Cavaco Silva defeated Jorge Sampaio by a 51 to 29 percent margin.
The other left-wing candidates, Jerónimo de Sousa and Alberto Matos, presented by the Portuguese Communist Party and the People's Democratic Union respectively, both withdrew from the race one week before the elections, announcing their support for Jorge Sampaio, in order to concentrate the left-wing vote and avoid a runoff. These parties had already supported Sampaio in a coalition that won the local elections in Lisbon. It would be the last time that People's Democratic Union presented a candidate, as two years later it merged with other small left-wing parties and formed the Left Bloc.
Cavaco Silva was supported by the Social Democratic Party, failing to get the support of the People's Party, led by Manuel Monteiro. On election day, Sampaio won with nearly 54 percent of the votes and by a more than 400,000 vote margin over Cavaco Silva, which gathered just over 46 percent of the votes and, once more, the right-wing parties did not win the presidential election.
Sampaio gained the majority of the votes in all the districts in the South of Portugal, including the Communist strongholds in Alentejo and Setúbal district. Cavaco won in the more conservative districts of the North (excluding Porto district, where Sampaio edged out Cavaco by a narrow 52 to 48 percent margin) and also in Leiria district, traditional strongholds of the right-wing parties.
Voter turnout increased to 66% of registered voters compared to the previous presidential election, although it stood basically at the same level as the 1995 legislative election, held just three months earlier. Sampaio was sworn in as President on 9 March 1996. Aníbal Cavaco Silva would have to wait ten more years to be elected president in 2006.
Background Mário Soares was re-elected by a landslide with 70% of the votes in January 1991. In contrast to his first term, Soares' second term revealed a very tense relationship with prime minister Aníbal Cavaco Silva of the PSD. Soares' "open presidencies", where he would visit areas across the country to listen to citizens concerns and learn about their problems, were used by the President to criticize Cavaco's government, adding to this press leaks, in which the presidency appeared to be undermining the government.
Pre-campaign
In the follow-up for the presidential election, Lisbon mayor and former PS leader Jorge Sampaio launched his campaign early on, in February 1995, an announcement that surprised and constrained then party leader António Guterres, with President Soares also having reservations about Sampaio, although both would later strongly support him. Former president António Ramalho Eanes was rumored to be considering a run, which he ultimately dismissed, while in the PSD, although some considered the possibility of running, such as former prime minister Francisco Pinto Balsemão, being even "sounded out" by the Socialist Party in view of Guterres' initial reluctance to support Sampaio, the candidacy of prime minister Cavaco Silva was always strongly speculated upon, with himself entertaining the idea, and being made official a few days after the 1995 legislative election.
Electoral system 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 7,500 and 15,000 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.
Candidates Official candidates CandidateParty supportPolitical office(s)DetailsJorge Sampaio (56)Mayor of Lisbon (1989–1995)Secretary-general of the Socialist Party (1989–1992)Member of the Assembly of the Republic (1976–1983; 1985–1995)Socialist Party (PS) member; lawyer.Aníbal Cavaco Silva (56)Prime Minister (1985–1995)President of the Social Democratic Party (1985–1995)Minister of Finance (1980–1981)Social Democratic Party (PSD) member; economist.
Withdrew candidacy CandidateParty supportPolitical office(s)DetailsJerónimo de Sousa (48)Member of the Assembly of the Republic (1976–2022)Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) member; withrew in favour of Jorge Sampaio.Alberto Matos (44)Member of the Almada Municipal Assembly (1993–1997)Member of the Beja Municipal Assembly (1980–1982)Popular Democratic Union (UDP) member; withrew in favour of Jorge Sampaio.
Did not run António Ramalho Eanes – former President of the Republic (1976–1986) Francisco Pinto Balsemão – former Prime Minister (1981–1983) and PSD leader (1980–1983) Fernando Gomes – incumbent Mayor of Porto (1989–1998) Mário Sottomayor Cardia – former Minister of Education (1976–1978)
Campaign period Issues The campaign was heavily marked by the personality clash between Cavaco Silva and Jorge Sampaio. Cavaco Silva warned of the dangers of a concentration of power under the same party, the Socialists, while Jorge Sampaio campaigned on the principle of dialogue and stability. The personal attacks were quite intense, with Cavaco's supporters criticizing Sampaio's left-wing past, and his marital history also came to light, although the former prime minister's campaign denied any involvement in this matter. Religion was also a central theme of the campaign, with Cavaco and his campaign emphasizing the importance of Catholicism and family in Portugal, while Sampaio accused his opponent of trying to divide the Portuguese people.
Party slogans Candidate Original slogan English translation Refs Jorge Sampaio « Um por todos » "One for all" Aníbal Cavaco Silva « Em nome de Portugal » "In the name of Portugal" Jerónimo de Sousa « Contigo isto muda » "With you this changes" Alberto Matos « A escolha de um lado » "Choosing a side"
Candidates' debates 1996 Portuguese presidential election debates Date Organisers Moderator(s) Sampaio Cavaco Jerónimo Refs 14 Dec 1995 RTP1 Maria Elisa DominguesJosé Eduardo MonizPPP 21 Dec 1995 SIC Margarida MaranteMiguel Sousa TavaresPPN
Opinion polls Note, until 2000, the publication of opinion polls in the last week of the campaign was forbidden.
Polling firmDate releasedSamplesizeSampaioCavaco /Lead Election results 14 Jan 1996 53.9 46.1 7.8 Euroteste 14 Jan 1996 56–60 40–44 16 Metris 14 Jan 1996 56.8–61.2 38.8–43.2 18.0 UCP 14 Jan 1996 54.6–58.2 41.8–45.6 12.8 UCP 6 Jan 1996 52.1 47.9 4.2 Metris 6 Jan 1996 57.1 42.9 14.2 Euroteste 6 Jan 1996 57.5 42.5 15.0 Euroexpansão 6 Jan 1996 57.7 42.3 15.4 Independente 5 Jan 1996 56.7 43.3 13.4 Visão 4 Jan 1996 51.2 38.1 10.7 13.1 Euroteste 1 Jan 1996 58.7 41.3 17.4 Jornal de Notícias 1 Jan 1996 50.7 42.6 6.7 8.1 Metris 30 Dec 1995 56.4 41.7 1.9 14.7 Euroexpansão 30 Dec 1995 58.8 40.0 1.2 18.8 Independente 29 Dec 1995 58.3 41.7 16.6 Euroexpansão 23 Dec 1995 60.0 36.5 3.5 23.5 Independente 22 Dec 1995 56.8 43.2 13.6 UCP 21 Dec 1995 54.1 43.7 2.2 10.4 Metris 15 Dec 1995 53.8 42.6 3.6 11.2Euroexpansão25 Nov 1995 473914Jerónimo de Sousa (PCP): 3%8Euroexpansão11 Nov 1995548463816Jerónimo de Sousa (PCP): 2%8Euroexpansão28 Oct 1995 48381410Euroexpansão7 Oct 1995 4739148 TVI/Público/Renascença 20 Jun 1995 51.346.62.14.7
Other candidates First round Polling firmDate released /Lead TVI/Público/Renascença 20 Jun 199525.625.35.58.035.60.3
Second round Polling firmDate released /Lead Euroexpansão7 Oct 1995572617315233151957241933 TVI/Público/Renascença20 Jun 199566.428.94.737.556.238.94.937.5 Center-right preferred candidate Polling firmDate released /Lead Euroexpansão7 Oct 199551.014.06.45.63.32.82.10.70.40.013.737.0
Results National summary
Results by district District Sampaio Cavaco Turnout Votes % Votes % Aveiro 162,495 43.04% 215,046 56.96% 69.01% Azores 40,746 43.60% 52,715 56.40% 50.81% Beja 71,833 79.15% 18,926 20.85% 61.31% Braga 204,069 45.79% 241,580 54.21% 71.55% Bragança 34,358 40.17% 51,173 59.83% 57.42% Castelo Branco 69,136 55.50% 55,428 44.50% 63.13% Coimbra 133,644 54.37% 112,181 45.63% 65.90% Évora 72,369 73.32% 26,398 26.68% 67.16% Faro 110,748 58.45% 78,736 41.55% 63.09% Guarda 45,820 44.00% 58,306 56.00% 60.75% Leiria 98,577 40.41% 145,352 59.59% 66.95% Lisbon 740,987 60.98% 474,060 39.02% 66.75% Madeira 49,243 39.58% 75,160 60.42% 62.99% Portalegre 52,647 69.38% 23,231 30.62% 66.84% Porto 500,903 51.82% 465,803 48.18% 70.28% Santarém 149,119 57.50% 110,202 42.50% 67.25% Setúbal 313,083 74.51% 107,080 25.49% 67.36% Viana do Castelo 58,621 41.57% 82,411 58.43% 64.34% Vila Real 51,087 39.64% 77,779 60.36% 59.10% Viseu 78,996 36.97% 134,669 63.03% 61.63% Source: SGMAI Presidential Election Results
Maps
Notes
References
External links Portuguese Electoral Commission NSD: European Election Database - Portugal publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1990–2010