The former PSD president stated, “Parties are not lepers, but I will be like Mário Soares, Jorge Sampaio, Cavaco Silva, or Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. I take pride in my political past, but I am very independent and will be an independent president.”
Speaking to journalists at the end of a visit to the Jorge Pina Academy in Lisbon, the 2026 presidential candidate emphasized that “all civilian presidents were party-affiliated people, and they even became party leaders, then they became independent figures in the Presidency of the Republic and served democracy.”
“Even General Ramalho Eanes was elected with the support of three parties,” he noted.
Regarding Gouveia e Melo’s remarks, his competitor in the presidential race, who suggested that the presidential elections seem like a second round of legislative elections, Marques Mendes argued that the statement “makes no sense and even shows a bit of lack of imagination.”
“Presidential elections are not a second round of anything, they are presidential elections,” he maintained.
The presidential candidate declared his independence from the race’s dynamics, stating that “all are always welcome and all deserve the same respect.”
“For me, I am fine. I will not change anything, I will not lose my character, I am who I am. Some make shifts to the right, some shifts to the left, I do not shift. I remain in the same place, which is the space of moderation, the space of firm principles, the space of energy to help lift Portugal, that is my space, I will not change anything,” he highlighted.
Luís Marques Mendes refused to select a reference among former Presidents, saying he respects all and “all were independent” and “all rendered great service to the country.”
“But I will not compare myself to any, nor will I establish any reference for a very simple reason. Each one is as they are, each has their style, their way of being. And therefore, I am who I am, with my experience, with my independence, with my qualities, with my defects,” he indicated.
“I am myself, with my own style, because no two people are alike, nor two presidents identical,” he added.
The candidate for Belém also indicated that, if elected in January 2026, his priorities will be “stability, national ambition, and ethics in political life.”
“I want to ensure stability, promote national ambition, and strengthen ethics in political life. These are the three marks I want to leave in my presidency,” he stated.
Luís Marques Mendes today visited associations working on immigrant integration and poverty reduction, urging discussion of immigration “in a positive light,” lamenting that it is “often talked about negatively.”
“We all know what has gone wrong in recent years, a great lack of control, but now we must think positively. There was already a foreigners’ law that has been settled, settled in the best sense of the word, that is, approved by a broad consensus, there is a nationality law about to be approved, there are a series of decisions, such as the so-called green lane for immigration, which has been consensualized for months between the State and social partners, and there is a vast world of immigrant associations and other associations like these I visited, doing tremendous work to help integration,” he emphasized.
Luís Marques Mendes clarified that this is not a “message for anyone,” but rather “a call to attention for everyone,” including politicians and journalists.
