“We need to develop a more diversified economy, but one that is more cohesive with people. An economy without people, where profit is the ultimate goal, ends up self-destructing,” stated the candidate when asked about the labor package the government intends to implement, which has led to the scheduling of a general strike for Thursday.
“What I mean is that after the strike, during social dialogue, there should be an attempt to find a balance between the flexibility needs of the new economy without truly undermining workers, the core rights of workers, because that will create social inequalities, and we already have a very unequal country,” he added.
The presidential candidate further stated that “the presidency must uphold a set of principles” and “demand from the governance that these principles are respected,” believing that the country only progresses if the “economy has social cohesion.”
A day after the British magazine The Economist named Portugal as the “economy of the year” for 2025 among the 36 wealthiest countries, Gouveia e Melo opined that the Portuguese economy “has structural problems” since nearly 20% of the GDP relies on tourism.
“If there is an international crisis affecting tourism, we plunge into a deep crisis. Therefore, we need industries similar to this kind of activity,” he said.
Gouveia e Melo addressed reporters after a visit to a modular home construction factory in Montijo, in the Setúbal district, highlighting this as a solution that “allows us to meet housing needs quickly,” with “lower costs, better quality, and less response time.”
“Portugal needs to reinvent itself. We have a housing problem. What we are seeing here at this factory is that there are solutions to all problems, provided there is energy, a willingness, and of course, these solutions also need support,” he remarked.
Emphasizing that “Portugal invests very little in the housing market,” Gouveia e Melo argued that spaces must be allocated for construction and that the country must improve laws to streamline the modular housing construction process.
Regarding the planned VAT reduction to 6% for construction, Gouveia e Melo noted that these tax incentives shouldn’t be extended to everyone “blindly,” but rather applied to those “best positioned to solve the problem.”
The presidential elections are scheduled for January 18, 2026.
This marks the 12th time (including the two rounds of the 1986 elections) that the Portuguese have been called upon since 1976 to democratically choose the President of the Republic.
Among those who have announced their presidential candidacies are António Filipe (supported by the PCP), António José Seguro (backed by the PS), André Ventura (supported by Chega), Catarina Martins (backed by BE), Henrique Gouveia e Melo, João Cotrim Figueiredo (supported by Iniciativa Liberal), Jorge Pinto (backed by Livre), and Luís Marques Mendes (supported by PSD and CDS-PP).
According to the candidacy portal from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there are an additional 31 citizens gathering signatures for a presidential run.
