The former Health Minister Manuel Pizarro is poised to be elected as the president of the Porto Municipal Council if local elections were held today, closely followed by fellow ex-minister Pedro Duarte. These insights emerged from a survey conducted by the Instituto de Ciências Sociais of the Universidade de Lisboa and ISCTE for SIC and Expresso, released on Thursday.
The survey indicates that Manuel Pizarro leads with 36% of voter intentions, while Pedro Duarte garners 33%.
Also in the running is Chega candidate Miguel Corte-Real, who, according to the television station, would achieve double the result compared to Filipe Araújo (independent), who is currently the deputy mayor and is also running for the presidency of the municipal executive.
Meanwhile, Diana Ferreira (CDU) holds 4% of the vote intentions, and the Bloquista candidate Sérgio Aires has 3%.
The municipal elections are scheduled for October 12, with more surveys expected until then. So far, the focus is not only on the presidency but also on the undecided voters.
The mentioned poll reveals that 13% of voters remain indecisive. When questioned about the performance of the Porto Municipal Council, the majority described it as “very good” or “good,” whereas 42% rated it as “bad” or “very bad.”
The quality of public spaces, cultural offerings, and public transportation are highlighted as the only areas receiving a positive assessment, according to the study.
Meanwhile, areas flagged with a ‘red light’ include housing, corruption combat, traffic, taxes and municipal rates, social support, immigrant integration, security, and street cleanliness.
Rui Moreira exits the presidency after three terms and cannot seek re-election. He is among nearly 90 municipal presidents stepping down in these local elections, having reached the limit of three consecutive terms in the same municipality, most of whom are socialists.
In addition to 89 municipal presidents departing in these elections, another 46 who also reached their term limits left office in the past two years, mainly to assume roles in the government, as deputies in the Assembly of the Republic or Europe, and other public positions: 28 from the PSD or social-democratic coalitions, 16 from the PS, one from CDU (PCP/PEV), and one from Juntos Pelo Povo (JPP).
Among the 89 municipal presidents in their final term, 49 are socialists, 21 are social democrats or from coalitions led by the PSD, 12 from the CDU, three from the CDS-PP, and four independents.
Besides Rui Moreira, others stepping down from municipal presidency include Carlos Carreiras (PSD) in Cascais and Basílio Horta (PS) in Sintra, in the district of Lisbon.
Other PSD figures, such as Ribau Esteves, president of Aveiro, Ricardo Rio in Braga (PSD/CDS-PP/PPM/Aliança), and Rogério Bacalhau in Faro (PSD/CDS-PP/IL/MPT/PPM), will also leave office.
In the district of Porto, besides independent Rui Moreira, six other mayors are completing their terms, including three from the PS (Lousada, Paços de Ferreira, and Valongo) and three from the PSD or coalitions led by social democrats (Póvoa de Varzim, Penafiel, and Amarante).
