“The exclusion of the CDU’s candidacy from the debates for Lisbon and Porto’s City Halls scheduled for September 14 and 15, 2025, respectively, violates article 7 of Law No. 72-A/2015, dated July 23,” states the deliberation released today by ERC.
This exclusion prompted the PCP to file a complaint with the National Elections Commission (CNE) citing a lack of pluralism and discriminatory treatment concerning the face-to-face debates announced for the Lisbon and Porto Municipal elections.
The regulator noted that the PCP alleged SIC’s plan to conduct a debate “between the PS and PSD candidates for the Municipal Councils of Lisbon and Porto in the upcoming local elections,” contending that “debates must adhere to non-discriminatory treatment and pluralism criteria for the candidacies.”
In this instance, the PCP deemed the exclusion of CDU’s candidacies as discriminatory behavior by SIC.
For its assessment, the CNE requested a response from the Information Director of SIC and SIC Notícias regarding the complaint, to which they responded, “the fact that SIC Notícias organizes a face-to-face between the main candidates of two coalitions (PSD/CDS/IL vs PS/Livre/BE/PAN (citizens for Lisbon)) does not preclude the possibility of broader debates during the pre-campaign or the campaign period, as well as interviews with the main candidates.”
“This is simply an initial face-off with obvious editorial value […] the SIC Notícias schedule is still being developed and includes other editorial angles in which the CDU candidacy will be featured in both Lisbon and Porto,” they added.
Chega also filed a similar complaint with the CNE, which was subsequently forwarded to the ERC.
In their grievance, Chega’s candidacy for Porto’s City Hall argued that SIC Notícias “announced a debate on September 14, featuring a face-to-face between candidates Manuel Pizarro (PS) and Pedro Duarte (PSD/CDS/IL Coalition) for Porto City Hall,” while stating that “for the remaining candidates, including those previously mentioned and those with representation in Porto’s Municipal Assembly, SIC Notícias announced only a subsequent joint debate.”
In a decision, also made unanimously, the media regulator concluded that the choice to include or exclude CHEGA’s candidacy for Porto’s City Hall in the debate organized by SIC on September 14, 2025, falls within the realm of the operator’s editorial autonomy.
