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
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.
Opinion polls
Note, until 2000, the publication of opinion polls in the last week of the campaign was forbidden.
Exit poll