2001 Portuguese presidential election

2001 Portuguese presidential election

14 January 2001
Turnout	49.7% 16.6 pp
Candidate Jorge Sampaio Ferreira do Amaral António Abreu Party PS PSD PCP Popular vote 2,401,015 1,498,948 223,196 Percentage 55.6% 34.7% 5.2%
President before election Jorge Sampaio PS Elected President Jorge Sampaio PS

The Portuguese presidential election of 2001 was held on 14 January.

The victory of incumbent president Jorge Sampaio was never in doubt and the turnout was therefore quite low (49.71%). Again, the incumbent president was reelected, like what happened with Mário Soares and Ramalho Eanes.

As the re-election of the left-wing president was almost certain, both the Portuguese Communist Party and the Left Bloc, the latter for its first time, presented their own candidates, as their support against the right-wing candidate was not necessary. The Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers also presented its own candidate for the first time in its history, Garcia Pereira.

On the right, Ferreira do Amaral was supported by the two major parties, the Social Democratic Party and the People's Party which, again, could not achieve their old objective of electing a right-wing president for the first time since the Carnation Revolution.

Procedure

Any Portuguese citizen over 35 years old has the opportunity to run for president. In order to do so it is necessary to gather between 7500 and 15000 signatures and submit them to the Portuguese Constitutional Court.

According to the Portuguese Constitution, to be elected, a candidate needs a majority of votes. If no candidate gets this majority there will take place a second round between the two most voted candidates.

Candidates

• Jorge Sampaio, President since 1996 and eligible for a second term, leader of the PS between 1989 and 1992, supported by the Socialist Party;
• Joaquim Martins Ferreira do Amaral, former minister of public works of Cavaco Silva government between 1990 and 1995, supported by the Social Democratic Party and by the People's Party;
• António Abreu, alderman in Lisbon between 1997 and 2001, supported by the Portuguese Communist Party;
• Fernando Rosas, Portuguese academic and politician, supported by the Left Bloc;
• Garcia Pereira, Secretary-General of the PCTP/MRPP;

Unsuccessful candidacies

There were also four candidates rejected by the Portuguese Constitutional Court for not complying with the legal requirement of being proposed by 7500 voters:

• Pedro Maria Braga;
• Maria Teresa Lameiro;
• Josué Rodrigues Pedro;
• Manuel João Vieira;

These four candidates were present in the draw of the ballot position, but did not appear in the final ballot.

Campaign period

Party slogans

Candidate		Original slogan	English translation	Refs
width="1" bgcolor="Template:Socialist Party (Portugal)/meta/color"|	Jorge Sampaio	« Por todos nós »	"For all of us"
bgcolor="Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color"|	Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral	« Juntos conseguimos »	"Together we succeed"
bgcolor="Template:Unitary Democratic Coalition/meta/color"|	António Abreu	« Razões de esquerda para Portugal »	"Left reasons for Portugal"
bgcolor="Template:Left Bloc/meta/color;"|	Fernando Rosas	« Esquerda com rosto »	"Left with a face"
bgcolor="Template:Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers / Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat/meta/color;"|	António Garcia Pereira	« Ousar sonhar, ousar lutar, ousar vencer! »	"Dare to dream, dare to fight, dare to win!"

Candidates' debates

2001 Portuguese presidential election debates
Date	Organisers	Moderator(s)	P  Present    A  Absent invitee  N  Non-invitee
			Sampaio	Amaral	Abreu	Rosas	Pereira	Refs
			style="background:Template:Socialist Party (Portugal)/meta/color;"|	style="background:Template:Social Democratic Party (Portugal)/meta/color;"|	style="background:Template:Unitary Democratic Coalition/meta/color;"|	style="background:Template:Left Bloc/meta/color;"|	style="background:Template:Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers / Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat/meta/color;"|
4 Jan	RTP1	Judite de Sousa	P	P	P	P	P

Results

Maps

• 
  Strongest candidate by electoral district. (Azores and Madeira not shown)
• 
  Strongest candidate by municipality.

References

• "CNE Resultados". Comissão Nacional de Eleições. Retrieved 17 May 2005.
• "Centro de Estudos do Pensamento Político". Archived from the original on 18 August 2006. Retrieved 17 May 2005.

External links

• Portuguese Electoral Commission
• NSD: European Election Database - Portugal publishes regional level election data; allows for comparisons of election results, 1990-2010

See also

• President of Portugal
• Portugal
• Politics of Portugal