Henrique Gouveia e Melo has already stressed that he is not a fan of the question about a possible Belém candidacy, as he said in an interview with the Observer, in July. Even so, he continues to appear and lead among the naming preferences for the presidential elections. This is at least the scenario presented in an Intercampus survey, carried out for Negócios, Correio da Manhã and CMTV.
Gouveia and Melo in Belém? “You can see what happens immediately. I wish I didn’t get asked the same question 300 times.”
In this survey, that measures the preferences of potential candidates and not voting intentionsHenrique Gouveia e Melo was the name with the most votes, with 15.9% of the preferences among a range of 11 personalities.
The admiral, who also led the vaccination task force against Covid-19, is the first on the list, but is closely followed by Pedro Passos Coelho, with 15.2%. The former prime minister has been involved in some speculation about a possible candidacy and even a return to politics. This month he said that “it would be foolish” to close the position to politics, but assuring that he is “far from everything”, a situation in which he intends to “continue”.
António Costa, current president of the Government, is also on the list, with around 10% of the preferences of those surveyed. Also included in this list of preferences are names such as Ana Gomes (8.6%), Marques Mendes (7.3%), Paulo Portas (6.3%), André Ventura (6.1%) or Augusto Santos Silva ( 5.8%). There are also figures from the left, such as Mariana Mortágua (4%) or João Ferreira (3.3%). João Cotrim de Figueiredo has 2.1% of the preferences.
There is 8.8% of those surveyed who did not answer or who would not vote.
Passos Coelho: “It would be foolish to say that I will never do anything in politics again in my life”
The scenario is different regarding who would win the 2026 presidential elections. In this scenario, the current prime minister would win the race for Belém, as indicated by the conviction of 21.3% of those surveyed in this barometer. In this spectrum, Gouveia e Melo would be second, with 15.4% and Pedro Passos Coelho third, with 13.9%. In fourth place on this list of who would win is Marques Mendes, with 8.3% —curiously, with a more expressive result than in preferences.
The survey sample consists of 605 telephone interviews, with calls made between November 15 and 20.
Source: Observadora
