In a statement to the press, the candidacy claims that the Lusa news article titled ‘Presidential Elections: Gouveia e Melo reveals that it was Marcelo’s attempt to stop him that led him to run’ “is false and suffers from an unacceptable lack of accuracy, which is why the truth of the facts needs to be restored”.
“At no point during the interview” for the book “As Razões” does it refer to “the President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, or any of his statements, as the motivation for running for the Presidency of the Republic, as can easily be verified on pages 123, 124, and 125 of the mentioned book”, the statement notes.
The news, according to Gouveia e Melo’s candidacy, “is false, and because in politics and journalism everything cannot be valid”, requested the publication of a clarification.
In response, Lusa’s Information Directorate “rejects and repudiates” the “accusations that the news in question is false and, much less, that the agency contributes to misinformation and has manipulated statements by Henrique Gouveia e Melo, as the candidacy claims”.
“As Gouveia e Melo’s candidacy rightly says in its statement, ‘in politics, everything cannot be valid,'” concludes the Information Directorate in a statement titled: “Lusa stands by its news ‘Gouveia e Melo reveals that it was Marcelo’s attempt to stop him that led him to run’.”
In the book, according to Lusa’s directorate statement, “Gouveia e Melo explicitly states that it was an article published in Expresso, on October 3, 2024, titled ‘Admiral wants two more submarines to stay in the Navy and give up Belém’, that led him to ‘set the course,’ in other words, to proceed with the candidacy”.
“It was that article that made me set the course. Because when I read it, I was really furious”, states the former Chief of Staff of the Navy on page 124 of the book “Gouveia e Melo – As Razões”, published by Porto Editora, refers the Information Directorate, which reproduces, in the statement, the Lusa news.
Admiral Gouveia e Melo reveals that he only decided to move towards Belém when he read in Expresso that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa intended to stop his presidential candidacy by reappointing him as head of the Navy.
Lusa | 10:45 – 09/11/2025
The candidacy laments that “it is Lusa Agency, a media organization that is part of the public information service, that thus contributes to the proliferation of a news story that objectively aimed to misinform and manipulate statements made by Henrique Gouveia e Melo in the cited book“.
Explaining, according to the note, the decision to run was “realizing that the President of the Republic and the government were not truly interested in defense, and therefore, he would not have the opportunity to make a difference as CEMA”.
“The candidacy for the Presidency of the Republic was motivated, above all, by the desire to continue serving Portugal actively and contributing to the country’s destiny, in the face of a scenario of national political instability and international uncertainty,” reads the statement.
On Sunday, Lusa reported that Admiral Gouveia e Melo only decided to move toward Belém when he read in Expresso that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa intended to stop his presidential candidacy by reappointing him as head of the Navy.
