The constitution does not prevent it, but having a military in the highest position in the state is not common in Portugal. Apart from the period of the First Republic (1910-1926), in which there were several cases (such as Sidónio Pais, for example), the data shows that the election of Ramalho Eanes, in 1976, was a rare case. Indeed, this election itself was contested practically only between military personnel. In addition to the elected Ramalho Eanes, Otelo Saraiva de Carvalho (supported by small parties, such as the UDP) came second and José Pinheiro de Azevedo, who came third. The exception was the historical communist Octávio Pato, who came fourth and last.
Since then, the military has never held political office in Portugal.
However, the name of Admiral Gouveia e Melo, the current Chief of Staff of the Navy, has been linked to a possible candidacy for Belém in the next presidential election (scheduled for 2026).
elected by the government task force of vaccination against covid-19, in 2021, the vice admiral was unknown to the majority of the population until then. However, his work in the fight against the pandemic has seen him honored on several occasions, including the award of the President of the Republic of the Grand Cross of the Military Order of Avis. The government also thanks him and gives him the most important position in the military branch to which he belongs: the command of the navy.
And despite never saying directly that a candidacy for Belém was in the plans, the truth is that Gouveia e Melo never closed the door either. In 2021, at the “Renew, Recover and Reinvent” rally marking the DN’s 157th anniversary, he referred to not being a “political actor” but, he assumed, “one should never say, ‘I will don’t drink that water”.
If we look at the European Union, having military personnel in political offices is in itself a rarity. The exception is the Czech Republic, and that happened in January this year, when Czech voters went to the polls to elect their fourth president since the Velvet Revolution, which overthrew the communist regime in Czechoslovakia in 1989. The presidential winner? Petr Pavel, a 61-year-old retired general, who defeated Andrej Babis, the country’s former prime minister.
Could something similar happen here?
Heard by DN, Paula do Espírito Santo, researcher and professor at the Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences (ISCSP), says that “taking into account the political history of the country, there will be some room, especially at the level of the society, for Gouveia and Melo to become president”. “Like Eanes, the Admiral is a soldier, one to whom discipline is dear. This context must be taken into account when thinking about a possible candidacy, not least because the presidential figure requires a certain level-headedness and rigorhe says.
According to Viriato Soromenho-Marques, professor at the Faculty of Arts of the University of Lisbon (FLUL), this discipline raises doubts. “Gouveia e Melo is, yes, someone who performed his duties with great rigor and discipline at the time of the pandemic. But from there to being able to carry out what is constitutionally required by the President of the Republic, there is still a long way to go.’, he contemplates.
And there is another ‘formal aspect’ to consider: ‘We are not in the post-revolution period, when the candidates were almost all active military personnel. [a candidatura a Belém] If that happens, Gouveia e Melo should retire or eventually go to reserve. This is because, by law, the military can apply for the position if they are not on active duty. If they are on active duty, it is necessary to obtain a special permit issued by the chief of staff of the department to which he belongs… a position which in this case is occupied by Gouveia e Melo himself.
case in the NRP Monday can leave traces
In recent days, Gouveia e Melo – and the Navy – have been in the eye of the hurricane. The reason: On March 11, 13 soldiers from the NRP Mondego, a coastal patrol vessel, refused to board, causing the Navy to miss a mission to accompany a Russian ship north of Porto Santo Island, Madeira. The decision, they reasoned in an open letter, was based on the ship’s poor safety conditions.
According to the group, at the height of the refusal, NRP Mondego had an engine failure (something the Navy itself confirmed) as well as a faulty generator and sewage problems.
Days later, the situation deserves harsh words from Gouveia e Melo, who recalls the role of discipline in the armed forces (“it’s the essential glue,” he says) and classifies the act as an insubordination by the 13 soldiers, saying that “it can never be ignored and forgotten”.
“The specific case certainly marks it,” says Paula do Espírtio Santo. It is, he says, “a matter of public reflection”. “The admiral’s response was not as neutral as might have been asked for and expected. There was an ongoing investigation and the facts had to be established in due course.”
Viriato Soromenho-Marques agrees. “Public intervention in the response to the case deserved more restraint,” he said. “From the moment a committee was put together with work to be developed, there must have been a reservation on the part of Gouveia e Melo. Added to this was the suspicion that everything would revolve around a possible plot against him and his image is the not positive. I would say that the impact after the case is great and the chance of a candidacy is minimal,” he concludes.
And the PS? Admiral or Santos Silva?
How would the PS behave in the event of a possible candidacy for Belém?
On the one hand, it was the government of António Costa that has pulled Gouveia e Melo to the forefront of fighting the pandemic. On the other hand, there is also Augusto Santos Silva, current President of the Assembly of the Republic and former Minister of Socialist Governments, who is also seen as a putative candidate in the next presidential election.
Moreover, looking at election results throughout history, the PS’s lack of success in supporting candidates is notorious. With rare exceptions (such as Eanes, Mário Soares or Jorge Sampaio), socialist-backed candidates are usually not winners. See, for example, the case of Sampaio da Nóvoa, candidate in 2016, who came second behind Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, with almost 30% fewer votes (52% for Marcelo, 22.88% for Sampaio da Nóvoa).
This example is seen by Paula do Espírito Santo as occasional parallels to that of Gouveia e Melo. “He was someone who intervened very civilly at the time and was seen as a consensual person. But he still couldn’t be elected.”. Why? On the other side was Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, “someone who was already present and who was very popular in his own right”. However, there is a “disadvantage from the beginning” in both cases, says Paula do Espírito Santo: ” The lack of a party device. Without that structure, these figures ultimately have no firmer support to support them, but even that is a natural thing given the profile of the position of president, which is more strategic than that of a prime minister.”
However, Viriato Soromenho-Marques points to another factor: the desired proximity between the governing parties and the eventual president. Also because the two elections will take place in 2026 (presidential elections in January; legislative elections in September/October). And now that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is prevented from running (he is in his second term), this issue may take on another relevance. “The governing parties would naturally like to have a president of the republic in Belém who was friendly rather than hostileDoes this mean that the Socialists are betting on Augusto Santos Silva? “I don’t think so. In fact, it seems to me that he may be at the end of his political life now”.
The case of the Czech president
Petr Pavel, 61 years old, general (in the reserves), considered an elite paratrooper. In early January, he will be elected president of the Czech Republic against former prime minister, the populist magnate Andrej Babis.
Although the Czech presidential power has been reduced, the head of state appoints the government, elects the governor of the central bank and the constitutional judges, and provides supreme command of the armed forces (this function also applies in Portugal). During the campaign, Pavel said he wanted to be “a worthy president” of a member state of the European Union and NATO. With this election, the Czech Republic became the only member state with a military president.
Source: DN
