The former president of IL and MEP João Cotrim Figueiredo today became the first candidate to submit signatures to officially run in the presidential elections on January 18, 2026, stating that almost nine thousand signatures were collected “in an absolutely record time, less than 48 hours”.
For the presidential candidate, “parties are never a problem for democracy” and one cannot even conceive “a democratic system without parties”.
“The problems that parties have should not be carried into a presidential election, even for the simple reason, which is not insignificant, that only someone who receives more than 50% is elected President. It has been a long time since any party in Portugal has had more than 50% of the votes, so necessarily, whoever is elected will have to be elected with votes from people who hail from other political areas than those of the candidates’ origins,” he argued.
Cotrim Figueiredo gave his example, explaining that his party origins “will have to be greatly expanded to reach the second round and to win”.
“That is why I am particularly pleased that so many people who used to vote for other parties have come closer. We are talking not of dozens, but hundreds, thousands perhaps, of people who have already sent me this message,” he pointed out.
On the previous day, during the public presentation of his candidacy, the IL MEP made a point of highlighting his independence, and today, when questioned about this affirmation, he recalled that he only entered “political life six years ago”.
“I had absolutely no party affiliation until six years ago. I have always demonstrated enormous independence throughout my professional life, whether in relation to who was employing me or in relation to whom I was relating. The same applies to parties,” he defended.
Considering himself “truly independent”, Cotrim Figueiredo noted that this should not be the issue discussed in these elections.
“The discussion should be who is concerned with discussing the future, who is more tied to the past. It should be who has the will and energy to change things or who is resigned, the so-called sad ones. In this discussion, I have no doubt that if there is a candidate who is in the right place, it is me,” he stressed.
When asked why it bothers him not to be considered a possibility to advance to the second round, the former IL president replied that “anyone who feels they are doing meritorious work and does not see it recognized would be bothered”.
“And I would also be bothered if I were covering a campaign and ended up being too surprised when someone warned me in advance that I shouldn’t have been,” he quipped.
Asked where he expects to find votes to advance to this second round, Cotrim first emphasized that in presidential elections “people count much more than parties”.
“Secondly, if it is already true in legislative elections that votes do not belong to parties, I think votes in the presidential election do not belong to anyone at all,” he said.
Admitting that “these elections started being contested with candidates in the realm some time ago”, according to the liberal MEP “there is a huge mass of people who either do not yet know who they will vote for, or were inclined in a certain direction until candidacies such as mine appeared”.
“All of this is in considerable flux, everything is open, and I think it depends on the quality of each one’s campaign. I believe I will run a good campaign, I think the start was absolutely extraordinary,” he stated.
