“After careful and thorough reflection on the political moment that the country is going through, and on the responsibilities that such an exercise demands, I have concluded that I should not run for another presidential candidacy,” António Sampaio da Nóvoa writes in a written statement sent to the Lusa news agency.
Despite emphasizing that “civic participation is everyone’s responsibility,” Sampaio da Nóvoa adds, “but the conditions for an open and plural, humanist candidacy, transcending the various sectors of society as occurred in the 2016 elections, in which I received 23% of the votes, are not met.”
“I know very well who I am and who I am not, and the values and principles of independence that are part of my life story,” states the university professor and Portugal’s ambassador to UNESCO between 2018 and 2021.
[News updated at 5:08 PM]
