Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is running again for President of Portugal

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa ended the taboo and presented on Monday his candidacy for the next Portuguese presidential elections, which will take place at the end of January 2021. This will be the 2nd time Marcelo will run for President, having obtained the majority of the votes in the 2016 presidential elections.

“My first word is that I am a candidate for the Presidency of the Republic,” Marcelo said this Monday at Pastelaria Versailles in Belém, Lisbon, where he announced his first candidacy five years ago.

“Because we have a pandemic to face, because we have an economic and social crisis to overcome, because we have an opportunity to change Portugal for the better, in the economy but, above all, in our daily lives, reinforcing our social and territorial cohesion, fighting poverty and exclusion and promoting employment,” he continued.

Marcelo said that Portugal needs an “independent president, who does not divide but unites the Portuguese people”. “Because I’m not going to leave in the middle of a demanding and painful journey. I won’t run away from my responsibilities,” he said.

The Presidential elections are scheduled for January 24, 2021, where Ana Gomes, Marisa Matias, João Ferreira, Tiago Mayan and André Ventura are also candidates. If none of the contenders get more than half of the cast votes, excluding blank votes, there will have to be a second-round 21 days later. This new election scheduled for February 14 is disputed between the two candidates with the most votes.