During a speech, the politician supported by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) also indicated that the Socialist Party’s potential support for António José Seguro was a foreseeable decision.
“From the women’s perspective, this is very serious. Because women who wear the burqa in Portugal for religious reasons—as very few people will have seen burqa-wearing individuals in public spaces in Portugal—if they are prohibited from going outside, they will stay at home. Therefore, the repression of these women will increase, rather than decrease,” said António Filipe.
The law “is a distraction from the real issues that concern people,” making it impossible to see “a social concern in the country that justifies measures of this nature,” he stated, referring to the general approval of Chega’s proposed bill aimed at prohibiting the use of the burqa in public spaces.
For the candidate, “it is not the State’s role to define what people wear or do not wear.”
Despite opposing this type of clothing, António Filipe expressed the belief that the issue should be resolved through educational means rather than through legislation or the imposition of fines, which only exacerbate the consequences for women.
The candidate was speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the presidential debate organized by the National Council of Law Students during the National Meeting of Law Students (ENED) in Coimbra.
When asked whether the potential support of the Socialist Party for António José Seguro would change anything, António Filipe emphasized “absolutely nothing.”
“Besides this agreement being predictable, it is not what concerns me. Obviously, I address all citizens, regardless of their voting choices in previous elections,” he stated.
António Filipe asserted that the candidacy for Belém “stands on its own, irrespective of other candidacies and the party-level support that other candidacies may receive.”
The Secretary-General of the Socialist Party, José Luís Carneiro, proposed to the National Committee the party’s support for presidential candidate António José Seguro, considering him to represent the “field of democratic socialism” in a “particularly demanding time.”
The presidential elections are scheduled for January 18, 2026.
