Council of State session sidelines Portugal’s presidential frontrunners

The sixth day of Portugal’s presidential campaign was anything but routine. Two of the frontrunners, Luís Marques Mendes and André Ventura, were pulled off the hustings for several hours after the President summoned the Council of State to an extraordinary meeting. The forced break has sparked accusations of political gamesmanship, talk of unfair advantage and broader questions about how much weight three lost hours really carry nine days before voters head to the polls.

Snapshot of a disruptive Friday

• Council of State session: 9 January, Lisbon’s Belém Palace

• Topics on the table: war in Ukraine and crisis in Venezuela

• Campaign events cancelled or trimmed: all but one for Ventura, two for Marques Mendes

• Election day: 18 January 2026

• Key controversy: timing of the meeting versus candidates’ right to campaign

An unexpected pause in the race

Both Ventura, backed by Chega, and Marques Mendes, supported by PSD-CDS, hold seats on the advisory body to the head of state. Under the Constitution, councillors must attend when called. That obligation translated into a mid-campaign retreat to Belém Palace and a sudden rewrite of each man’s road-show schedule. Ventura’s team scrapped a full slate of rallies, limiting him to a single walkabout in Santarém. Marques Mendes, who planned a tour of the Algarve that morning, boarded an early flight back to Lisbon instead.

Why Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa insisted on meeting now

Presidential advisers say the session could not be postponed. The Kremlin has “changed the facts on the ground” in eastern Ukraine since Christmas, one senior aide argued, and Portugal wanted to calibrate its position before a forthcoming EU Council. Venezuela’s snap legislative vote, held on 5 January, also demanded attention, he said. The President further noted that five new parliamentary appointees to the Council only took office at the end of December, making early January the first realistic window.

Ventura: ‘An operation to keep me off television’

The Chega leader blasted what he called an “inopportune” timetable: “There is no intelligence report so urgent that it cannot wait until 19 January,” he complained. Ventura hinted the move was designed to deprive him of prime-time coverage and cast the incumbent president, who is barred from running again, as the story’s protagonist. Still, the populist candidate attended, stressing that a no-show would be “disrespectful to the Republic.”

Mendes: ‘It’s three hours, let’s not dramatise’

Marques Mendes chose a different tack. The former PSD chairman labelled the fuss “ridiculous,” telling reporters in Faro that “nobody loses an election over a long coffee break.” He argued that the Council’s duty to advise on foreign policy overrides campaign logistics and urged the press to focus on substance: Portugal’s next head of state will, after all, inherit the fallout from both Kyiv and Caracas.

How the rest of the field reacted

Henrique Gouveia e Melo, an independent with naval credentials, seized the moment to question Mendes’ dual role. “A candidate with access to privileged intelligence enjoys an edge the others do not,” he said, suggesting Mendes should have resigned his seat when he entered the race. Left-wing contender Jorge Pinto went further, calling the attendance of any active candidate “a mistake” and vowing he would have requested dispensation.

Analysts split on impact

Political scientist José Adelino Maltez dismissed the quarrel as a “media ballet”. The real winner, he believes, is visibility: the Council saga handed the two front-runners a fresh headline midway through an otherwise policy-heavy week. Pollster Sofia Viegas is less sure. Her latest tracking survey shows undecided voters chafing at anything that smells of institutional privilege—precisely the frame Ventura is pushing.

What exactly is the Council of State?

Portugal’s Conselho de Estado is often described as the president’s kitchen cabinet. For readers in need of a refresher, here are the essentials:

Composition: the sitting prime minister, the speakers of both chambers, former presidents, five MPs elected by the Assembly and five citizens hand-picked by the head of state, plus any president-appointed councillors such as Ventura and Marques Mendes.

Powers: purely advisory—yet its opinions carry moral and political weight.

Typical agenda: declarations of war or peace, dissolution of parliament, foreign-policy flashpoints.

Meetings: behind closed doors; minutes remain sealed for 30 years.

Does a three-hour lull matter?

Past campaigns offer mixed evidence. In 2016, António Sampaio da Nóvoa skipped a televised debate to speak at UNESCO and still finished second. Conversely, Mário Soares in 1986 rued a single day lost to a diplomatic trip, telling aides it slowed his momentum. This time, turnout forecasts hover around 62%. With many voters claiming to decide late, even a short absence from the trail can be magnified—especially in a contest that recent polls peg as a two-horse race between Mendes at 31% and Ventura at 28%.

The bottom line for Portuguese voters

For citizens weighing their choice, the kerfuffle offers a preview of how each hopeful handles state duties versus campaign imperatives. Mendes projects steadiness and institutional respect; Ventura markets indignation and outsider zeal. Whether the electorate rewards one posture over the other will become clear in less than a week and a half, when ballots—not press statements—determine who moves into Belém Palace.