Presidential Elections: António Filipe says he can unite democrats who are not satisfied with the right wing in power

Presidential candidate António Filipe said today that his candidacy aims to unite democrats who are not satisfied with "the fact that the right controls all sovereign bodies" and affirmed his commitment to the values of the Constitution.

In a speech at the presentation of his candidacy, at Voz do Operário, in Lisbon, António Filipe stated that, “given the candidacies already announced, many democrats rightly lamented the lack of a candidacy that unreservedly identified with the April values enshrined in the Constitution.”

"A candidacy capable of uniting democrats who refuse to accept the right-wing control of all sovereign bodies, a candidacy capable of uniting the Portuguese in the fight for an alternative to the state we've reached, one that would restore hope and open horizons for the future. This candidacy was missing, but it's not missing anymore. Here we are," said António Filipe, receiving a standing ovation from the audience, which included PCP Secretary General Paulo Raimundo and his predecessors Jerónimo de Sousa and Carlos Carvalhas.

The candidate stressed that the January 2026 presidential elections are of "particular importance" at a time when the right "controls all sovereign bodies," has a parliamentary majority to revise the Constitution of the Republic, and has "unprecedented possibilities to determine the composition of other state bodies."

In this context, António Filipe argued that the position of the next President will be crucial “in the face of the Constitution and the April values it enshrines” and in the face of “the agenda of social and democratic regression that is being promoted”.

“Here we are, here I am, to say that the defense of democracy and the Constitution does not allow for discouragement or giving up,” he stressed.

The presidential candidate accused the current government of being "committed to pursuing a reactionary agenda that violates the Constitution, attacks workers' rights, privatizes public services and what remains of the public business sector, degrades the NHS and public schools, and privatizes and attacks on Social Security resources."

"It is supported by the growth of a fascist, racist, and xenophobic far-right, intensely promoted by economic power and broad media outlets, and whose actions are based on demagoguery, lies, and the promotion of hatred against immigrants, the poor, and workers," he stated.

António Filipe denied that the AD Government is giving in to the "extreme right-wing agenda", countering that it is using its growth "as a pretext and support base to advance a reactionary agenda that is its own and that the Portuguese have known since the time of the 'troika'."

After making these criticisms, António Filipe argued that an alternative is needed to address the “unsustainable situation” the country has reached.

The candidate argued that the next President cannot accept that people "get poorer by working every year," that there is a shortage of teachers in schools, that the "SNS is destroyed," or that "it is not possible in Portugal to find decent housing" at affordable prices.

He then addressed the issue of immigration at length, arguing that, in the current context, it needs to be regulated, but there cannot be a policy in which "rich foreigners have rights without duties and poor foreigners have duties without rights."

Accusing the far-right of harboring a hatred of immigrants with an "unmistakable class character," António Filipe argued that the President of the Republic cannot condone this type of discourse, much less a government in which xenophobic and reactionary views are adopted as policies.

"The President of the Republic, given his lofty responsibilities, must be an active agent in this civilizational struggle for freedom and democracy," he maintained.