According to an official source from the former Chief of the Navy's General Staff, the presentation is scheduled for 7pm.

Gouveia e Melo confirmed that he is a candidate for the January 2026 presidential elections, in statements to Rádio Renascença, on the 14th, in the middle of the electoral campaign for the early legislative elections on Sunday.

His decision was also taken taking into account “some internal instability that has spread” in the country, due to short-lived governments and the lack of stable governance.

“This internal instability is there for all of us Portuguese to see,” highlighted Gouveia Melo, for whom the “world has changed a lot” since 2023.

“The war in Ukraine has worsened, tensions in Europe have also worsened, and the election of Mr. Trump as President of the United States of America has changed the international landscape. We are facing a new attempt to build a world order that could be dangerous, or could significantly affect us,” highlighted the former Chief of the Navy General Staff on the 14th.

The leaders of both the PSD and PS refused to comment on the candidacy during the legislative campaign, considering that there is time to address the issue.

Henrique Eduardo Passaláqua de Gouveia e Melo was born in Quelimane, Mozambique, on November 21, 1960. He entered the Naval School on September 7, 1979 and spent 22 years of his career in submarines. He spent three years at the head of the Navy.

The admiral decided to retire shortly after the end of his term, arguing that remaining on active duty took away “some freedom” in his “civic rights”.

After maintaining some “taboos” about his candidacy, he confirmed it last week. In March, he had already submitted a request to the National Institute of Industrial Property to register the "Movimento Gouveia e Melo Presidente" as a trademark.

In February, in an article published in the weekly Expresso, entitled "Honoring Democracy", Gouveia e Melo considered that "for the good of the democratic system", the country must have a president of the Republic "exempt and independent of party loyalties", rejecting that the head of state is an "appendix of party interests".

The retired military man - who in this article positioned himself politically "between socialism and social democracy, defending liberal democracy as a political regime" - supported the thesis that "no President can be truly "for everyone" if he is clearly associated with a political faction, as he will not have the necessary independence to represent the collective interest".

"The President is not at the service of the parties, he is at the service of the Portuguese people and of Portugal. He guarantees the Constitution, the union and the integrity of the country and is, therefore, a counter-power of a balanced democratic system at the service of the freedom, security, equity and prosperity of the Portuguese people and, consequently, of Portugal", he said.

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