“Today is a very happy day for me, and I want it to be a very happy day for Portugal. We came to deliver 10,000 seeds of hope for a better future, a decent country, an efficient state, and above all, a country that believes in itself,” said the candidate to journalists after submitting the signatures in more than 10 boxes, alongside about two dozen supporters.
The former Secretary-General of PS stated that his goal is to unite the Portuguese people and aims to address both the left and right, as well as those with no party affiliations.
“This is a candidacy directed at all democrats, all progressives, and all humanists,” he emphasized.
When asked about the relationship he would have with the current government if elected President of the Republic, Seguro assured an institutional and cooperative relationship.
“The country has so many problems and challenges that what is required of the holders of sovereignty bodies is cooperation, and I am here to unite, to introduce a culture of commitment, a culture of demand so that parties and governments fulfill their essential mission, which is to find solutions for a better life for the Portuguese,” he stressed.
Regarding the government’s draft labor law review and recent statements by the Minister of Labor, Rosário Palma Ramalho, who said she would not start negotiations from scratch with social partners, António José Seguro highlighted that “democratic humility is very important” for building consensus.
“What I wish is for our country to have a productive economy and for companies to be more competitive, and for that, we need to find consensus, we need to find balance between investors and workers,” he argued.
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, since 1976, to choose the President of the Republic in a democracy.
Among others, António Filipe (with PCP support), António José Seguro (supported by PS), André Ventura (backed by Chega), Catarina Martins (supported by BE), Henrique Gouveia e Melo, João Cotrim Figueiredo (backed by Iniciativa Liberal), Jorge Pinto (supported by Livre), and Luís Marques Mendes (with PSD support) have announced their candidacies for the presidential elections.
According to the candidacy portal of the Ministry of Internal Administration, there are another 31 citizens collecting signatures for a presidential candidacy.
Henrique Gouveia e Melo today formally submitted his presidential candidacy to the Constitutional Court, delivering “more than 10,000 signatures,” and stated that he is the one who can best contribute to the security, stability, and progress of Portugal.
Lusa | 16:45 – 10/12/2025
