President of Portugal

President of the Portuguese Republic
Presidential Flag
Incumbent Aníbal António Cavaco Silva since 9 March 2006
Style	His/Her Excellency
Residence	Belém Palace
Term length	Five years, renewable once; may run for third and final non-consecutive term.
Inaugural holder	Manuel de Arriaga
Formation	5 October 1910
Website	http://www.presidencia.pt/

Portugal

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Portugal has been a republic since 1910, and since that time the head of state has been the president, whose official title is President of the Portuguese Republic (Presidente da República Portuguesa, Portuguese pronunciation: [pɾɨziˈðẽtɨ ðɐ ʁɛˈpuβlikɐ]).

Under the Portuguese Constitution adopted in 1976, in the wake of the 1974 Carnation Revolution, the President is elected to a five-year term, and may serve for a maximum of two consecutive terms. A president who serves two consecutive terms may run for a third and final non-consecutive term. The official residence of the Portuguese President is the Belém Palace.

The President theoretically has wide powers, but most are rarely used, following the precedent set by President António Ramalho Eanes (1976–1986) and upheld by his successors Mário Soares and Jorge Sampaio.

The President, however, has the discretionary power to dissolve Parliament when s/he sees fit, and President Sampaio made use of this prerogative in late 2004 to remove the controversial government of Pedro Santana Lopes, despite the absolute majority of MPs supporting the government.

The President is elected in a two-round system: if no candidate reaches 50% of the votes during the first round, the two candidates with the most votes face each other in a second round held two weeks later. However, the second round has only been needed once, during the 1986 presidential election. To date, all of the elected presidents since the Carnation Revolution have served for two consecutive terms, and presidents consistently rank as the most popular political figure in the country.

If the president dies or becomes incapacitated while in office, the President of the Assembly assumes the office with restricted powers until a new president can be inaugurated following fresh elections.

Prior to the Carnation Revolution, the powers of the presidency varied widely; some presidents were virtual dictators (such as Pais, and Carmona in his early years), while others were little more than figureheads (such as Carmona in his later years, Craveiro Lopes, and Américo Thomaz; during their administrations, supreme power was held by Prime Minister António de Oliveira Salazar).

2011 presidential election

 Summary of the 23 January 2011 Portuguese presidential election results

Candidates		Supporting parties	First round
			Votes	%
	Aníbal Cavaco Silva	Social Democratic Party, People's Party, Hope for Portugal Movement	2,231,956	52.95
	Manuel Alegre	Socialist Party, Left Bloc, Democratic Party of the Atlantic, PCTP/MRPP	831,838	19.74
	Fernando Nobre	Independent	593,021	14.07
	Francisco Lopes	Portuguese Communist Party, Ecologist Party "The Greens"	301,017	7.14
	José Manuel Coelho	New Democracy Party	189,918	4.51
	Defensor Moura	Independent	67,110	1.59
Total valid			4,214,860	100.00
Blank ballots			192,127	4.28
Invalid ballots			85,466	1.90
Total (turnout 46.52%)			4,492,453
Source: Comissão Nacional de Eleições

Main article: Portuguese presidential election, 2011

State visits

The President of Portugal oftentimes makes official state visits to other foreign countries. For a list of visits made by President Cavaco Silva see:

Main article: List of state visits made by President Cavaco Silva of Portugal

See also

• List of Presidents of Portugal