António Filipe announced his candidacy for the Portuguese presidency on Monday, following the Portuguese Communist Party’s decision two weeks prior to select him as their candidate.
“The messages of support we have received since our candidacy was announced demonstrate this candidacy has potential,” he stated, adding, “More than that, it is wholeheartedly committed to this important battle for democracy, which is the 2026 presidential election.”
The candidacy was unveiled at A Voz do Operário, a venue chosen deliberately. António Filipe noted, “The voice of the worker is our voice and this candidacy will be the voice of all workers’ aspirations, the voice of those who create wealth yet do not reap its benefits. The voice of those who never stop fighting for the free, just, and solidary society mentioned in Article 1 of the Constitution of the Republic.”
He remarked that Portugal remains a nation where, “despite the opportunities created by the April Revolution, policies have led to impoverishment and exploitation, as well as degradation.”
“The Right currently controls all sovereign bodies, holds a broad majority in the Assembly of the Republic, and supports a government committed to pursuing a reactionary agenda, an affront to the Constitution and an attack on workers’ rights,” he said, also touching on the privatization and deterioration of the National Health Service, alongside a “disdain for culture.”
Commenting on the Right, he stated, “It relies on the growth of a fascist-leaning, racist, and xenophobic far-right, actively promoted by economic powers and widespread media, whose actions are built on demagoguery, lies, hatred against immigrants, the poor, and workers, and the undermining of democratic institutions to push forward a social regression agenda.”
During his speech, António Filipe highlighted that “given the already announced candidacies, many democrats rightly lament the absence of a presidential candidate unabashedly aligned with the values of April as enshrined in the Constitution.”
“A candidacy capable of uniting democrats dissatisfied with the Right’s control over all sovereign bodies, capable of uniting the Portuguese in the struggle for an alternative to the current state, to restore hope and open future horizons. That candidacy was missing, but it is no longer. Here we are,” he asserted, earning a standing ovation from the audience, which included PCP Secretary-General Paulo Raimundo and his predecessors Jerónimo de Sousa and Carlos Carvalhas.
António Filipe argued that the next President’s stance will be crucial “in relation to the Constitution and the values of April it enshrines” and “regarding the agenda of social and democratic regression being promoted.”
“Here we are, here I am, to declare that defending democracy and the Constitution does not permit discouragement or surrender,” he emphasized.
The former Vice-President of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal assured that his candidacy “is to be taken to the end” and is not dependent on others. He expressed openness to consensus, refusing to be confined to “party lines.”
“This candidacy is to be taken to the end,” António Filipe declared.
Asked whether he might withdraw his candidacy if António Sampaio da Nóvoa decides to run, Filipe, supported by the PCP, stated that his candidacy is “irreplaceable” and its “importance” cannot be assumed by “any existing or non-existent [candidacies].”
When questioned about support from parties other than the PCP, Filipe replied that his candidacy “is not aimed at political parties but at the Portuguese people in general,” who “do not accept the current state of the country and aspire for an alternative.”
Earlier in his presentation speech, Filipe stated that in his “more than three decades” as a deputy in the Assembly of the Republic, he demonstrated that “it is possible to reconcile steadfast defense of one’s political positions with fair engagement with different political views, maintaining a sense of balance and openness to consensus in which all democrats can recognize themselves.”
“That is the essence of my, our candidacy. It is the candidacy of a communist, with the trust and support of his comrades, but it rejects confinement to the boundaries of a party affirmation,” he stressed.
