Presidential Debate Clash: Marques Mendes and António Filipe Agree to Disagree on TAP, Ukraine, and Labor Laws

Second Presidential Debate for 2026 Elections

The second debate for the 2026 Presidential elections brought together Marques Mendes and António Filipe on SIC, two candidates from opposing political areas—the first from social democracy and the center-right, the second from communism. They do not compete for the same electorate and agreed to disagree on almost everything, from labor law to November 25, from TAP to foreign policy, especially regarding Ukraine. Both accused each other of being "factional candidates."

In a less tense debate than the previous day's between António José Seguro and André Ventura, the two candidates began by expressing personal esteem and respect for each other. But quickly the divergences became clear regarding the interventionist role of a President of the Republic.

Marques Mendes promised a "magistracy of influence," dialogue, and the search for consensus in the name of stability and social peace. António Filipe promised to defend workers and the interests of the Portuguese at all costs. "I am on the side of the workers," stated the communist candidate. "A factional candidate," reacted Marques Mendes, provoking protests from António Filipe. "I am as factional as the doctor."

Labor Law: The First Divergence

Labor law was the first divergence. Marques Mendes does not want to "dramatize" the changes to labor law. Recalling that the executive's intentions are still in the draft stage, the social-democratic candidate emphasized that, if elected on March 9, he might have to comment but will wait for a bill to do so. "A President of the Republic only comments on a specific law after it is approved," he defended. "I have no position on this draft," he said, "I place myself in the position a responsible President of the Republic should take, "must have two positions here, dialogue and balance," he explained.

Marques Mendes thus called for dialogue, recalling that an agreement serves everyone—employers, government, and unions, especially UGT, which should "be respected," unlike CGTP, "which never signed an agreement." António Filipe immediately reacted, saying that CGTP signed the agreement for the minimum wage "that was never fulfilled." Moreover, "Dr. Marques Mendes is on the government's side, he is the candidate of the government in office," he shot, linking the adversary to the controversy. "We are in deep divergence," emphasized António Filipe. Marques Mendes "wants to prevent a general strike, I want to prevent this labor law," he added.

Denouncing various proposals, António Filipe said he understood the "revolt of the workers" with the revision desired by the AD executive. "What is underlying is to invert the logic of labor law," he denounced, which "would become a weapon of employers against workers." "As a candidate, I should comment" on what is at stake, he considered. And, "as president," he would seek to hear the Constitutional Court "on issues that raise doubts" and "on what I disagree with" and consider harmful to workers, "I would make an appeal to the Assembly of the Republic" to reflect.

Divergence 2: November 25

The two candidates also diverged on the commemorations of November 25, scheduled for the next week. António Filipe denounced them as "an attempt to rewrite history and diminish April 25." "It is a factional ceremony," it is "to pass an incorrect idea" of what happened that day, he added, stating that he would not preside over the state commemorative ceremonies of the date.

Marques Mendes considered that a president in office cannot assume such a position, although he understands it from the adversary because, he said, "the PCP was the party that was defeated on November 25." The date should be celebrated, he defended, because "it is not just any date," "it is the date that prevented Portugal from falling into a second dictatorship of the opposite sign." "It is an equally important date, which restored to the country the purity of the ideals of April 25," stated the social democrat. "Both should be marked."

Divergence 3: Stability

The two candidates then defended stability as the priority of their presidencies, but both revealed a different understanding of the concept. Marques Mendes said that "the country cannot always live in elections." A president must "guarantee conditions for governments to govern and present results" and prevent populism from growing, he said. And, "people want tranquility and companies stability." He will therefore seek to build bridges.

Already António Filipe considers that the most important is the "stability of people's lives," giving as examples the difficulties of access to the SNS, young people's access to housing, students' access to classes with teachers. "This is what drives people away from politics," he said. "The PR must have a voice," he defended, promising to use his powers to ensure compliance with the Constitution. "I do not intend for the President of the Republic to exceed his powers," promised António Filipe, considering it important that "people feel they have someone" to defend them.

Marques Mendes considered that a president "must pull the country upward" and announced that, if elected, his first initiative will be to send "a message to Parliament" about the country's challenges for the next 10 years. "We must have another ambition," he defended, also considering that, to perform the role, "experience counts."

Divergence 4: TAP

António Filipe contested the recent options for the Portuguese economy and stated that "it is necessary for the levers of our country to be in the hands of the Portuguese," giving as examples banking or TAP, wanting "the State to have a relevant role there." "I have nothing against private initiative," he said, but "I would alert the government to the dangers of privatizing TAP" and would work to stop the current process if he were president.

Marques Mendes riposted, recalling that Brussels' rules prevent the Portuguese State from having a majority stake in the airline. "The country should know this," he said. "If there is no privatization, TAP will not grow, by Brussels' rules, the State cannot put a penny into TAP." "It is of elementary common sense," he referred. The privatization should proceed, precisely "in the national interest" because without private investment, "TAP cannot grow and compete." "It is not worth making demagogy on matters of fact," he shot.

"If the State had not intervened, TAP would not exist today," replied António Filipe, recalling the controversial restructuring of 2015, on the last day of the Passos Coelho government, which still today causes ink to flow and provokes investigations into how it took place.

Divergence 5: Ukraine

Faced with a possible totalitarian drift, both promised to use the powers conferred by the Constitution to combat it. The social democrat recalled that his candidacy is based precisely on the defense of great values, "defend democracy, defend freedom, and defend social justice" relative to "those who want to undermine democracy." The communist candidate promised "to be the last mainstay of the defense of democracy." "I would maintain my powers as the last bastion of the defense of democracy," he referred.

In foreign policy, António Filipe defended that Portugal's action should be in the direction of defending the national interest and within the framework of the organizations to which it belongs, having its own voice. Marques Mendes, emphasizing that the President of the Republic does not define foreign policy, ended up in the need for a reinforcement of NATO.

The war in Ukraine was the last topic on which both placed themselves on opposite sides. Marques Mendes accused António Filipe of being on the side of the "aggressor" Vladimir Putin, challenging him to speak out against the invasion started by Moscow in February 2022. The adversary recalled that, in fact, the conflict "began in 2014" and defended that diplomacy should have prevented the war from happening. "Diplomatic efforts should have gone in the direction of ending the war because the longer it lasts, the worse for the Ukrainian people," he defended. "As President of the Republic, I would make every effort so that, on the plane of democracy, this issue would end once and for all, because it is the way to defend the Ukrainian people."

Marques Mendes stated for his part that "the world is in a state of great unpredictability," so "an experienced president is necessary." The social-democratic candidate needs to attract votes in the center-left, and his strategy involves distancing himself in some way from the current executive without alienating his traditional electorate and without losing to Cotrim de Figueiredo on the right and to the newcomer in politics, Admiral Gouveia e Melo.

António Filipe, who refused to hand over his Portuguese Communist Party membership card, intends to stay in the race until the end, similar to the last four CDU presidential candidates. His objective will be above all to establish himself as a more valid and solid option to the left than the Left Bloc, represented by Catarina Martins, and to seek votes among socialists who do not support António José Seguro.