a new president

And, so, a new president has been elected: Cavaco Silva.

Here is a summary from the Globe and Mail:

LISBON -- Portugal's former centre-right prime minister Anibal Cavaco Silva, who has vowed to help revive a stagnant economy, narrowly won a presidential election yesterday in the first round, official results showed.

The Social Democrat-backed candidate captured 50.59 per cent of the vote in an election that featured five left-of-centre candidates, according to an official count of ballots cast in more than 99 per cent of polling stations.

Mr. Cavaco Silva, who oversaw a period of economic growth as prime minister between 1985 and 1995, is the first president elected outside the left since a 1974 military coup toppled a repressive right-wing dictatorship that ruled Portugal for nearly 50 years.

During the campaign he pledged that if elected, he would press Socialist Prime Minister Jose Socrates to go ahead with promised reforms intended to boost economic competitiveness.

"We have before us a demanding path," he told thousands of flag-waving supporters, some of them in tears, who gathered outside the riverside Lisbon cultural centre which hosted the candidate's victory party.

The presidency is a highly visible but largely ceremonial role. The head of state has no power to legislate but can dissolve parliament, veto laws, call general elections and appoint the prime minister based on vote results.

The president can also influence government policy by identifying priorities or expressing opinions about proposed initiatives.

If no candidate had captured more than 50 per cent of the vote, a runoff election between the top two contenders would have been held on Feb. 12.

Mr. Cavaco Silva's nearest rival was Socialist lawmaker and poet Manuel Alegre, who ran as an independent against the wishes of his party, which backed former Socialist prime minister and two-time president Mario Soares.

Mr. Alegre won 20.72 per cent of the vote while Mr. Soares, who steered Portugal from dictatorship to democracy, ended up in third place with 14.34 per cent.

An admirer of Britain's Margaret Thatcher, Mr. Cavaco Silva is credited with introducing free-market reforms as prime minister.

The reforms overlapped with the arrival of billions in aid from the European Union, which Portugal joined in 1986, helping to lift living standards.

He will be sworn in on March 9, taking over from Socialist President Jorge Sampaio, who is stepping down after serving two consecutive five-year terms, the maximum allowed under the constitution.

The Socialists won 45 per cent of votes cast -- and an outright majority in the 230-seat parliament -- in an early general election held last February.

But polls show Mr. Cavaco Silva's focus on the need for further reforms together with his reputation for economic competence had struck a chord with voters from both the left and right who are concerned about rising unemployment

and they're off

The Presidential Race in Portugal (at least the first round) is soon coming to an end with people voting today.

Here's a great article (in English) on today's race:

There are five main candidates, and voting may go to a second round on 12 February if no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote.

Q: How does the Portuguese political system work?

The January 2006 elections mark the end of Jorge Sampaio's presidency. Mr Sampaio, a Socialist, served the maximum of two five-year terms. The president is elected by universal suffrage and a candidate requires a minimum of 7,500 signatures to register his candidacy. Political parties may support a candidate but not field a candidate. To be elected, candidates need to obtain more than half of the valid votes cast. A second round, to be contested by the two candidates with the most votes, may be necessary.

Q: What does the president do?

The president's basic role is to represent the country, guarantee national independence and the state's unity as well as the normal functioning of institutions. The president is also the supreme commander of the Portuguese armed forces.

The president can dissolve parliament, dismiss the government, appoint the prime minister, call referendums, declare a state of siege or state of emergency, declare war and peace, approve and veto bills and decrees, and ratify international treaties.

Q: What happens on election day?

The election campaign ends two days before polling. Polling stations open on Sunday from 0800 to 1900 (0800 GMT to 1900 GMT).

Portuguese residing abroad may cast their vote two days prior to polling day, as well as on polling day itself. Results and exit polls may only be published after 1900 on polling day.

Q: Who are the main candidates?

Anibal Cavaco Silva

Born 1939. Joined Social Democratic Party in 1974. Prime Minister from 1985 to 1995. Stood for president against Jorge Sampaio in 1996, and returned to his post as professor of economics after losing.

Francisco Louca

Born 1957. Member of the Revolutionary Socialist Party since 1979, which is now part of the Left Bloc, founded in 1999. MP for Lisbon since 1999. Has published several political and economic books.

Jeronimo de Sousa

Born 1947. Joined Portuguese Communist Party in 1974. Elected PCP secretary-general 2004.

Manuel Alegre

Born 1936. Joined Socialist Party in 1974. MP for Coimbra from 1974 to 2002 and for Lisbon since 2002. Deputy Speaker since 1995. He has won several literary prizes.

Mario Soares

Born 1924. Exiled during Salazar's regime. Founder of Socialist Party and its secretary-general from the outset in 1973. Foreign minister in 1974-75. Prime minister 1976-78 and 1983-85. President 1986-1996.

Q: What are the main campaign pledges?

The president has more of a figurehead role and as such voters are choosing a personality rather than policies. The candidates' pledges are loosely based on those of the political parties which support them.

Anibal Cavaco Silva is the only centre-right candidate. Manuel Alegre is ahead of Mario Soares as the main candidate of the left. The latter's support comes mostly from his extensive political career including his 10 years as president.

All candidates have made general pledges such as to uphold the constitution, be the president of all the Portuguese and promote good institutional relations to ensure the normal functioning of democracy.

Anibal Cavaco Silva promises to contribute to putting the country on the road to development as well as bringing confidence and credibility.

Manuel Alegre says he is standing without party support but as a man of the Left. He vows to fight for a more just and prosperous society and to revive Portugal's political life.

Mario Soares promises to help the country overcome its "complex and prolonged" crisis and bring back a sense of pride to the Portuguese.

Q: Who is likely to win?

The latest poll published on 20 January suggests Anibal Cavaco Silva will be a clear winner in the first round with 53%. The scores for the other candidates were:

Manuel Alegre 20.6%

Mario Soares 12.4%

Jeronimo de Sousa 6.9%

Francisco Louca 6.1%

If these figures are reproduced on Sunday, then Mr Cavaco Silva would win outright without the need for a second round.

a revolta dos pasteis de nata

Unfortunately, it's not in English. Fortunately, it's in Portuguese and it's funny. Watch & enjoy.

Carlinhos...o Machista Gay


Wanderley - A Brazilian in Portugal


These are definitely meant for those with a sense of humour. These short, hilarious videos are done by a team of comics that go by "A Revolta dos Pastéis de Nata", click on this link to view their home page.

if i lived in portugal, who would i vote for?

I have to make a similar choice living in Canada come January 23rd, but one day prior, the Portuguese go to the polls to make a decision on who they want to be their next president.

I was too young when I left Portugal to vote for anyone, so I don't know the process. From what I've read, the President, is the head of state, and a position that has been in place since 1910. After the Carnation Revolution, the President was given a 5-year term. The current President's, Jorge Sampaio, has served 2 consecutive terms, which they can, but now a new President has to be elected. Follow this link to see a complete list of all previous Presidents of Portugal.

How is the President elected?

The President is elected, as in France, on a two-round system (if no candidate achieves 50% of the votes on the first round, the two most voted candidates face each other in a second round held three weeks later). However, only once, in 1986, was a second turn necessary. To date, all presidents since the Revolution served the two consecutive terms constitutionally allowed (a president who serves two terms can't be reelected before two presidential elections ellapse), and presidents consistently rank as the most popular political figure in the country.

(Source)

I was always told that the President, really, has no affect on the country, and as head of state is only there for PR purposes 99% of the time. He's the face of Portugal in and out of the country, but I wanted to double check what exactly the powers were.

I visited the official web site of the President. No help there, although, it appears to be in dire need of a redesign. The best description, I found, but only in Portuguese for which I did a quick translation:

1. O Presidente da República exerce as funções de Comandante Supremo das Forças Armadas e nomeia e exonera, sob proposta do Governo, o Chefe do Estado-Maior General das Forças Armadas e os Chefes de Estado-Maior dos três ramos das Forças Armadas.
Translation: He heads up the Military & chooses who runs each of the three branches.

2. O Presidente da República pode dissolver a Assembleia da República, o que implica a necessidade de convocação de novas eleições parlamentares e após a realização destas, a demissão do Governo.
Translation: He can dissolve Parliament (which he did in 2004)

3. O Presidente da República nomeia o Primeiro Ministro tendo em conta os resultados eleitorais e nomeia os restantes membros do Governo sob proposta do Primeiro Ministro. Pode, por outro lado, demitir o Governo quando tal se torne necessário para assegurar o regular funcionamento das instituições democráticas.
Translation: Based on election results, he names the Prime Minister and his/her cabinet members per his/her suggestion.

4. Os órgãos de governo próprios das regiões autónomas podem ser dissolvidos pelo Presidente da República, por prática de actos graves contrários à Constituição
Translation: He can dissolve the current bodies of government and each autonomous region of Portugal.

5. O Presidente da República declara o estado de sítio e de emergência, ouvido o Governo e sob autorização da Assembleia da República.
Translation: He is the one to declare a state of emergency, upon approval by Parliament.

6. Sob proposta do Governo e mediante autorização da Assembleia da República, o Presidente da República pode declarar a guerra em caso de agressão efectiva ou iminente e fazer a paz.
Translation: Upon approval by Parliament, he can declare war/peace.

7. O Presidente da República promulga ou assina e, consequentemente, pode vetar a promulgação ou assinatura de leis, decretos-leis, decretos regulamentares e restantes decretos do Governo.
Translation: He's the final step in making/changing laws.

8. No domínio das suas competências nas relações internacionais, o Presidente da República ratifica os tratados internacionais.
Translation: He takes care of international treaties.

9. O Presidente da República decide sobre a convocação do referendo cuja realização lhe seja proposta pela Assembleia da República.
Translation: After a referendum, he with Parliament's suggestion, will call a referendum.

10. Presidente da República pode requerer ao Tribunal Constitucional a apreciação preventiva da constitucionalidade de normas constantes de convenções internacionais ou de decretos que lhe tenham sido enviados para promulgação como lei orgânica, lei ou decreto-lei
Translation: Upon there being new international laws, he asks the Supreme Court to evaluate them.

11. O Presidente da República nomeia e exonera, em alguns casos sob proposta do Governo, titulares de importantes órgãos do Estado como sejam os Ministros da República para as regiões autónomas, o Presidente do Tribunal de Contas e o Procurador Geral da República, cinco membros do Conselho de Estado e dois vogais do Conselho Superior da Magistratura
Translation: He names important personnel to certain areas of the government.

12. O Presidente da República nomeia os embaixadores e os enviados extraordinários, sob proposta do Governo, e acredita os representantes diplomáticos estrangeiros.
Translation: He names foreign diplomats and ambassadors.

13. O Presidente da República, ouvido o Governo, indulta e comuta penas.
Translation: After consulting with the government, he can give pardons and assign sentences.
Let's review the candidates (with a link to their official site)

Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Former Prime Minister, supported by the PSD (Social Democratic Party) and by CDS/PP (People's Party).

Mário Alberto Soares
Supported by the PS (Socialist Party), and a former President (1986-1996)

Jéronimo Carvalho de Sousa
Supported by the PCP (Communist Party) and Os Verdes (Ecologist Party), and is the current Secretary-General of the Portuguese Communist Party.

Francisco Anacleto Louçã
Supported by the Bloco de Esquera (Leftist Bloc), and is the Coordinator of the political commision of the party.

António Garcia Pereira
The Secretary General of the PCTP-MRPP (Communist Party of the Portuguese Workers - Reorganizative Movement of the Party of the Proletariat).

Manuel Alegre Duarte
Belongs to the PS (Socialist Party), but decided to run independently.

Now, who to vote for? I researched each candidate, and in keeping with political tradition, I have to say that choosing a president is a serious process, and I being a concerned citizen must take this decision to my assembly where I will discuss it until there is no more to discuss and then, will be the time that I will make my decision, but not before, I try not to make it for as much time as possible.

filha do mar

Having RTP has made me feel like I was back in Portugal! The one show that I got hooked on in a couple of days was Filha do Mar, a Portuguese telenovela about Marta, who met her soulmate Salvador, was torn apart from him, but not before getting pregnant, had his child, someone told her he was dead, became a doctor and then, miracles of all miracles, was assigned to Ribatejo where.....Salvador, alive and well, living with his current wife Sofia and son, Tomas.

You can read about it here - it's in Portuguese, unfortunately. Here's its official site.



I would love to know how it ends....

the moretto incident

For those who live in Canada, unless you have satelitte, getting RTP was not the easiest of things in the past, and most of the time, you'd have to endure old men in one of those cheesy tavernas downtown Toronto to be able to watch the soccer game.

Well, not anymore! Rogers (and I think other digital cable providers) has now made it available, and in the past 2 weeks it's been free of charge.

Besides getting hooked on the novela "Filha do Mar" (more on that later), I got hooked (mostly because I've spent a lot of time at my parents) watching the news. Earlier this week, while watching the news, one of the segments was about Benfica's acquisition of Moretto and the controversy relating to that.

First off, the slap heard around Portugal:


Source: SIC

Here's my version of the story - both Benfica and Porto wanted Moretto, but Benfica thought of it first, so Porto supposedly told this Vitor Dinis to go to Brazil, and get Moretto to sign for Porto, and he tried doing this by getting him to sign a letter saying he didn't want to sign for Benfica, even though no one from Benfica told him that they didn't want him on the team.

So, Benfica's President decides to fly to São Paulo to get his player, he gets there, gets pushed around by someone, who he assumes has been sent by this Dinis person, but still manages to get Moretto on his side. Then, for some apparent reason, both Dinis, Moretto and Benfica's president get on the same plane back from Brazil to Portugal. Benfica's prez whines about Dinis to some of his hench men, who wait for the guy coming out the flight, chase him down with some cameras, and slap him around. The above photo is that slap.

I wish I had made all that up, but it just makes me think how childish the game is. Or, at least, how smart those people behind the marketing of Benfica and Porto are in setting up the kind of incident that will make the fans of those clubs even more passionate about their teams, buy more merchandise, watch more games, visit the stadiums, buy tickets, and so on....it's all about the money people.

the end of 2005, the end of the news

I was trying out to do a daily, or at least three times a week, the news of late about Portugal, but, it's not as exciting a post as I want it to be, so I won't be doing it as much anymore, plus, since I started this blog about a month ago, I think I should play around with a couple of different things. I will still be posting news, but maybe not as often as I did in the past month or so.