2001 Portuguese presidential election

A presidential election was held in Portugal on 14 January 2001.

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

As the re-election of the center-left president was certain, both the Portuguese Communist Party and the Left Bloc, the latter for the first time, presented their own candidates, as their support against the right-wing candidate wasn't 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 from that side, the Social Democratic Party and the People's Party, which, again, could not achieve their objective of electing a right-wing president for the first time since the Carnation Revolution. Jorge Sampaio was sworn in for a second term as President on 9 March 2001.

Electoral system

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 7,500 and 15,000 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

Official candidates

Candidates who formalized their candidacy and submitted enough signatures to the Constitutional Court that were accepted. Candidates are ordered by their vote share.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

! colspan="2" |Candidate

!Party support

!Political office(s)

! style="max-width:20em;" |Details

|Jorge Sampaio (61)

|align=left|

|President of the Republic (1996–2006) Mayor of Lisbon (1989–1995) Secretary-general of the Socialist Party (1989–1992) Member of the Assembly of the Republic (1976–1983; 1985–1995)

|Incumbent president after winning the 1996 presidential election with 53.9% of the votes; eligible for a second term.

|Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral (55)

|align=left|

|Member of the Assembly of the Republic (1995–2009) Minister of Public Works (1990–1995) Minister of Commerce and Tourism (1984–1985; 1987–1990) Secretary of State for Tourism (1983–1984) Secretary of State for European Integration (1981) Secretary of State for Industries (1979–1980)

|Social Democratic Party (PSD) member; engineer.

|António Abreu (53)

|align=left|

|City Councillor in Lisbon (1993–2001)

|Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) member since 1969; engineer.

|Fernando Rosas (54)

|align=left|

|None

|Left Bloc (BE) founding member; journalist and historian.

|António Garcia Pereira (49)

|align=left|

|Secretary-general of the Portuguese Workers' Communist Party (1982–2015)

|Portuguese Workers' Communist Party (PCTP/MRPP) member; lawyer.

thumb|Official logo of the election.

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.

Declined

Aníbal Cavaco Silva – former Prime Minister (1985–1995); presidential candidate in the previous election;
Basílio Horta – minister in previous governments; candidate in the 1991 presidential election;
Daniel Proença de Carvalho – former Minister of Social Communication (1978–1979);
Diogo Freitas do Amaral – former President of the CDS (1974–1983; 1988–1992); candidate in the 1986 presidential election;
Francisco Pinto Balsemão – former Prime Minister (1981–1983); former President of the Social Democratic Party (1980–1983);
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa – former President of the Social Democratic Party (1996–1999).

| bgcolor=""|

| Joaquim Ferreira do Amaral

| « Juntos conseguimos »

| "Together we succeed"

| bgcolor=""|

| António Abreu

| « Razões de esquerda para Portugal »

| "Left reasons for Portugal"

| bgcolor=";"|

| Fernando Rosas

| « Esquerda com rosto »

| "Left with a face"

| bgcolor=";"|

| António Garcia Pereira

| « Ousar sonhar, ousar lutar, ousar vencer! »

| "Dare to dream, dare to fight, dare to win!"

Candidates' debates

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size:98%; text-align:center;"

! colspan="21"| 2001 Portuguese presidential election debates

! rowspan="3"| Date

! rowspan="3"| Organisers

! rowspan="3"| Moderator(s)

! colspan="18"|

! scope="col" style="width:5em;"| Sampaio

! scope="col" style="width:5em;"| Amaral

! scope="col" style="width:5em;"| Abreu

! scope="col" style="width:5em;"| Rosas

! scope="col" style="width:5em;"| Pereira

! rowspan="2"| Refs

! style="background:;"|

| style="white-space:nowrap; text-align:left;"| 4 Jan

| style="white-space:nowrap; text-align:left;"| RTP1

| style="white-space:nowrap; text-align:left;"| Judite de Sousa

| style="background:#D0FFD0;"|P

Opinion polls

{| class="wikitable unsortable" style="text-align:center;font-size:95%;line-height:16px;"

! rowspan="3" |Polling firm

! rowspan="3" |Date released

! rowspan="3" |Sample size

! rowspan=3 width=30px | /

! rowspan=3 width=25px | Lead

! class="unsortable" style="width:30px;" |

| bgcolor=#FF66FF |

| bgcolor=#FF9900 |

| bgcolor=red |

| bgcolor=#8B0000 |

| bgcolor=#CC0000 |

| colspan="10" style="background:#A0A0A0"|

|- style="background:#EFEFEF;"

| Election results

| data-sort-value="2019-10-06"| 14 Jan 2001

| | 55.6

| 34.7

| 5.2

| 3.0

| 1.6

| style="background:; color:white;"|20.9

| colspan="10" style="background:#A0A0A0"|

|- style="background:#EAFFEA"

| UCP

| 14 Jan 2001

| | 54–59

| 32–36

| 4–7

| 2–3.5

| 1–2.5

| style="background:; color:white;"| 22.5

|- style="background:#EAFFEA"

| Eurosondagem

| 14 Jan 2001

| | 55.9–58.7

| 31.1–34.9

| 4.2–6.4

| 1.7–3.3

| 1.1–2.3

| style="background:; color:white;"| 24.4

|- style="background:#EAFFEA"

| Intercampus

| 14 Jan 2001

| | 54.8–59.2

| 30.9–35.1

| 4.5–6.5

| 1.9–3.3

| 1.3–2.5

| style="background:; color:white;"| 24.0

| UCP

| 12 Jan 2001

| style="background:#FFCBFF"| 63.5

| 29.1

| 2.4

| 2.7

| 2.2

| style="background:#FF66FF; color:white" | 34.4

| Euroexpansão

| 12 Jan 2001

| style="background:#FFCBFF"| 64.8

| 31.9

| 1.2

| 1.7

| 0.4

| style="background:#FF66FF; color:white" | 32.9

| Eurosondagem

| 12 Jan 2001

| style="background:#FFCBFF"| 67.6

| 27.6

| 1.5

| 2.2

| 0.9

| style="background:#FF66FF; color:white" | 40.0

| UCP

| 7 Jan 2001

| style="background:#FFCBFF"| 67.9

| 27.2

| 2.2

| 1.9

| 0.8

| style="background:#FF66FF; color:white" | 40.7

| Euroexpansão

| 30 Dec 2000

| style="background:#FFCBFF"| 60.1

| 29.6

| 1.1

| 1.6

| 0.4

| 7.2

| style="background:#FF66FF; color:white" | 30.5

| UCP

| 18 Dec 2001

| style="background:#FFCBFF"| 62.0

| 31.6

| 1.7

| 2.0

| 0.2

| 2.5

| style="background:#FF66FF; color:white" | 30.4

| Euroexpansão

| Nov 2000

| style="background:#FFCBFF"| 61.9

| 26.4

| 1.3

| 1.4

| 9.0

| style="background:#FF66FF; color:white" | 35.5

| Euroexpansão

| 1 Apr 2000

| style="background:#FFCBFF"| 67

| 17

| 5

| style="background:#FF66FF; color:white" | 50

Results

National summary

Results by district

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:right; font-size:95%"

! colspan="2" rowspan="2" | District

! colspan="2" | Sampaio

! colspan="2" | Amaral

! colspan="2" | Abreu

! colspan="2" | Rosas

! colspan="2" | Garcia Pereira

! rowspan="2" | Turnout

! Votes

! %

! Votes

! %

! Votes

! %

! Votes

! %

! Votes

! %

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Aveiro

| ; color:#000;" | 149,301

| ; color:#000;" | 51.16%

| 125,306

| 42.93%

| 6,240

| 2.14%

| 6,942

| 2.38%

| 4,068

| 1.39%

| 51.96%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Azores

| ; color:#000;" | 43,848

| ; color:#000;" | 63.81%

| 21,378

| 31.11%

| 841

| 1.22%

| 1,558

| 2.27%

| 1,092

| 1.59%

| 37.18%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Beja

| ; color:#000;" | 41,180

| ; color:#000;" | 62.16%

| 9,988

| 15.08%

| 11,979

| 18.08%

| 2,287

| 3.45%

| 814

| 1.23%

| 47.12%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Braga

| ; color:#000;" | 196,641

| ; color:#000;" | 54.79%

| 137,989

| 38.45%

| 8,922

| 2.49%

| 10,362

| 2.89%

| 4,998

| 1.39%

| 55.24%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Bragança

| 29,514

| 46.33%

| ; color:#000;" | 30,612

| ; color:#000;" | 48.06%

| 1,247

| 1.96%

| 1,433

| 2.25%

| 893

| 1.40%

| 43.45%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Castelo Branco

| ; color:#000;" | 57,888

| ; color:#000;" | 58.89%

| 33,353

| 33.93%

| 3,069

| 3.12%

| 2,698

| 2.74%

| 1,296

| 1.32%

| 52.45%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Coimbra

| ; color:#000;" | 107,310

| ; color:#000;" | 58.20%

| 62,441

| 33.86%

| 6,517

| 3.53%

| 5,410

| 2.93%

| 2,714

| 1.47%

| 50.13%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Évora

| ; color:#000;" | 45,182

| ; color:#000;" | 62.00%

| 14,914

| 20.47%

| 9,970

| 13.68%

| 2,080

| 2.85%

| 724

| 0.99%

| 50.28%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Faro

| ; color:#000;" | 86,483

| ; color:#000;" | 59.40%

| 44,471

| 30.54%

| 6,415

| 4.41%

| 5,394

| 3.70%

| 2,834

| 1.95%

| 47.48%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Guarda

| ; color:#000;" | 40,597

| ; color:#000;" | 51.31%

| 33,617

| 42.49%

| 1,917

| 2.42%

| 1,917

| 2.42%

| 1,067

| 1.35%

| 47.68%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Leiria

| ; color:#000;" | 90,854

| ; color:#000;" | 47.51%

| 86,805

| 45.50%

| 5,860

| 3.06%

| 5,017

| 2.62%

| 2,679

| 1.40%

| 51.97%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Lisbon

| ; color:#000;" | 517,692

| ; color:#000;" | 56.49%

| 285,472

| 31.15%

| 61,338

| 6.69%

| 32,831

| 3.58%

| 19,077

| 2.08%

| 51.69%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Madeira

| ; color:#000;" | 51,837

| ; color:#000;" | 51.01%

| 43,092

| 42.41%

| 1,477

| 1.45%

| 3,237

| 3.19%

| 1,970

| 1.94%

| 49.26%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Portalegre

| ; color:#000;" | 34,956

| ; color:#000;" | 62.79%

| 13,311

| 23.91%

| 5,271

| 9.47%

| 1,453

| 2.61%

| 679

| 1.22%

| 51.20%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Porto

| ; color:#000;" | 428,798

| ; color:#000;" | 57.87%

| 256,975

| 34.68%

| 25,433

| 3.43%

| 19,648

| 2.65%

| 10,072

| 1.36%

| 53.13%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Santarém

| ; color:#000;" | 113,079

| ; color:#000;" | 56.84%

| 65,258

| 32.80%

| 11,344

| 5.70%

| 6,320

| 3.18%

| 2,959

| 1.49%

| 52.59%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Setúbal

| ; color:#000;" | 190,543

| ; color:#000;" | 60.05%

| 64,500

| 20.33%

| 44,453

| 14.01%

| 12,168

| 3.83%

| 5,647

| 1.78%

| 50.03%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Viana do Castelo

| ; color:#000;" | 58,235

| ; color:#000;" | 52.63%

| 44,441

| 40.16%

| 3,291

| 2.97%

| 3,172

| 2.87%

| 1,521

| 1.37%

| 49.88%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Vila Real

| ; color:#000;" | 48,037

| ; color:#000;" | 48.44%

| 45,519

| 45.90%

| 1,955

| 1.97%

| 2,343

| 2.36%

| 1,312

| 1.32%

| 46.24%

! style="background:;" |  

| style="text-align:left;" | Viseu

| ; color:#000;" | 79,478

| ; color:#000;" | 48.72%

| 74,416

| 45.61%

| 2,992

| 1.83%

| 4,097

| 2.51%

| 2,161

| 1.32%

| 48.03%

|- class="sortbottom"

| colspan="13" style="text-align:left;" | Source: 2001 Presidential election results

Maps

File:Pt plelection pr 2001.PNG|Strongest candidate by electoral district. (Azores and Madeira not shown)

File:Most Voted Candidates in the Portuguese Presidential Elections 2001 by Municipality.png|Strongest candidate by municipality.

</gallery>

Notes

References

External links

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