President of Portugal

The Portuguese Third Republic is a semi-presidential system. Despite being a rather ceremonial figure, unlike most European presidents, who are largely ceremonial figures, the Portuguese president is vested with more extensive powers. Although the prime minister and parliament oversee and direct much of Portugal's actual governmental affairs, the president wields significant influence and authority, especially in the fields of national security and foreign policy, however, always on the advice of the Government and the approval of Parliament. The president is the supreme commander of the armed forces, holds the nation's most senior office, and outranks all other politicians.^[5]

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 Tomás). During the Estado Novo, the president was nominally vested with near-dictatorial powers, but in practice supreme power was held by the president of the Council of Ministers (António de Oliveira Salazar and Marcelo Caetano).^[6][7]

The constitution grants the following powers to the president:^[12]

• The president of the republic exercises the functions of Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces and Grand Master of the Three Orders, and appoints and dismisses, on a proposal from the Government, the chief of the General Staff of the Armed Forces and the heads of General Staff of the three branches of the Armed Forces.
• The president of the republic can dissolve the Assembly of the Republic, which implies the need to call new legislative elections and, after these have been held, the resignation of the Government.
• The president of the republic appoints the prime minister taking into account the electoral results and appoints the remaining members of the Government on the proposal of the prime minister. The president can, on the other hand, dismiss the Government when this becomes necessary to ensure the regular functioning of democratic institutions.
• The governing bodies of the autonomous regions may be dissolved by the president of the republic, for carrying out serious acts contrary to the Constitution.
• The president of the republic declares the state of siege and emergency, after hearing the Government and under authorization from the Assembly of the Republic.
• Upon a proposal from the Government and with authorization from the Assembly of the Republic, the president of the republic may declare war in the event of effective or imminent aggression and make peace.
• The president of the republic promulgates or signs and, consequently, can veto the promulgation or signature of laws, decree-laws, regulatory decrees and other Government decrees.
• In the domain of his competences in international relations, the president of the republic ratifies international treaties.
• The president of the republic decides on the convening of the referendum whose holding is proposed by the Assembly of the Republic.
• The president of the republic may request the Constitutional Court to pre-empt the constitutionality of norms contained in international conventions or decrees that have been sent to him for promulgation as an organic law, law or decree-law.
• The president of the republic appoints and exonerates, in some cases on a proposal from the Government, holders of important state bodies such as the representatives of the Republic for the autonomous regions, the president of the Court of Auditors and the attorney general of the republic, five members of the Council of State and two members of the Superior Council of the Judiciary.
• The president of the Republic appoints the ambassadors and extraordinary envoys, on a proposal from the Government, and accredits the foreign diplomatic representatives.
• The president of the republic, after hearing the Government, pardons and commutes sentences.

Under the Portuguese Constitution adopted in 1976, in the wake of the 1974 Carnation Revolution, the president is elected to a five-year term. In order to be eligible, any citizen has to be of Portuguese origin and above 35 years old.^[5] He may be reelected any number of times, but not more than twice in a row.^[12] The official residence of the Portuguese president is the Belém Palace in Lisbon.^[13]

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 have only been needed twice, during the 1986 presidential election and 2026 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. During his time in office, however, the popularity of former president Aníbal Cavaco Silva plummeted, making him the second-least popular political figure in the country, just above the then-prime minister, and the first Portuguese president after 1974 to have a negative popularity.^[14] By 2024, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also displayed negative popularity ratings.^[15]

After the election, the President-elect usually takes an office in the Queluz Palace in Sintra (this having been the case for Aníbal Cavaco Silva, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and António José Seguro).^[16][17][18]

• 
  Facade of the Belém Palace
• 
  Presidential Office
• 
  Bicas room

Belém Palace is the official residence of the president of the Portuguese republic since 1910. Built in the 16th century by a high ranking diplomat named Manuel de Portugal, was bought by King John V in the 18th century and served as one of the residences of the Royal Family until the early 20th century.^[21]

António José Seguro, the current president, does not live in the palace.^[22]

The Support Services for the Presidency are a group of personal, technical, and asset management, administrative, and financial support services for the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic. The support services are subdivided into Direct Support Services to the President and Management Services, which are as follows:

• 
  Official Presidential car, model Mercedes-Benz S-Class during 2010
• 
  Dassault Falcon 50

• Politics of Portugal
• Chief of the Civilian House
• First Lady of Portugal