1. Today’s Presidential elections are marked by two elements: the election of Cavaco Silva and the large share of the vote obtained by my candidacy which, regardless of the overall result, represents a stimulus to assert the project that guided it, and a guarantee that it will continue pursuing, with confidence and determination, the struggle for a Portugal with future.

2. Cavaco Silva’s election in the first round negatively characterizes the results of this election for the Presidency of the Republic. But it must be noted that this result occurred by a slim margin of votes, very distant from the anticipated crowning which some had proclaimed. The slim margin of this result shows (as we repeatedly stated) that those who opposed it could have defeated it, as it deserved to be defeated. But for this to have happened, it would have been necessary for other political forces to show the same degree of commitment with which my candidacy waged this battle.

3. The right wing has achieved, thirty years on from the April 25th [1974], control over this organ of sovereignty, based on a campaign that counted on the most powerful economic means and that benefited from the undeniable support and sympathy of the main mass media groups, who white-washed the candidate’s past and hid his projects and ambitions for the future.

In a context in which, without hesitations and with determination, my candidacy alerted towards the risks and consequences of the right-wing candidate’s victory, and clearly stated the goal of preventing it, we must draw attention to the set of factors that favoured Cavaco Silva’s election.

In reality, Cavaco Silva benefited (apart from powerful resources and assistance) from the hesitations, attitudes and stances of the Socialist Party (PS) and its Government, which, from the very beginning, contributed to enhance Cavaco Silva’s electoral chances. The hesitations and ambiguities that have always marked the PS’s position, the obvious lack of commitment in this campaign, together with the surrender and resignation of the PS leadership when confronted with this electoral battle, decisively favoured the final outcome of these elections.

Added to this, and of no less importance, is the heightened social discontentment legitimately generated by the continued right-wing policies of the Socrates Government and the multiplication of anti-popular decisions (some of which taken during the electoral campaign itself), discontentment which Cavaco Silva hypocritically capitalized in his favour.

4. Unlike what is defended by some, who attempt to elude their responsibilities, one of Cavaco’s advantages did not reside in the existence of more than one candidate to his left, but rather in the divisions, demobilization and early surrender of the PS, that are clearly reflected in the election results.

5. With Cavaco Silva’s victory, it is not the country that has gained stability, but rather the right-wing policies and the conditions to pursue it. With Cavaco Silva’s victory, it is not April and the Constitution that emerged strengthened and defended, but rather the desire to destroy rights and do away with important achievements of April, a desire that the most reactionary sectors of domestic big business have long cherished.

As we repeatedly warned, Cavaco Silva’s election introduces negative factors in the present political and social context. It will encourage the most reactionary and revanchist sectors of the right and of big business and their desire to devoure the national resources and wealth, making the struggle for a democratic and left-wing break with the right-wing policies more complex and challenging.

6. The result achieved by my candidacy – over 8.5% of the vote, much more than in the previous presidential elections – is an important advancement if compared with the result of the CDU [PCP-Greens coalition] in the 2005 general election, obtaining nearly half a million votes and scoring significant victories, as in the Beja District and in numerous municipalities. It represents, despite the negative outcome with Cavaco’s election, an important electoral success and a factor of encouragement for those who do not conform to the right-wing policies and who believe that it is not only necessary but possible to achieve an alternative and a left-wing policy that may recreate hope in a better Portugal, a Portugal with a future.

This result, which confirms the tide of support that accompanied this candidacy, is above all a sign of confidence by many, many thousands of Portuguese men and women, who do not resign themselves to injustice and inequalities, and who believe that a new course for the country is possible. To all of them, to the Portuguese workers and people, I wish to reaffirm here the unshakable determination to honour the support that was received and to continue the work and the struggle in defence of social rights and achievements, for better living standards, for a democratic and left-wing about-turn in the country’s life.

7. My candidacy, which gave rise to a broad current of support, confirmed itself throughout this campaign as a reference of hope in a Portugal with a future.

It was a candidacy that, more than the expression of a single man, was a collective construction by many thousands of men and women, young and not so young, united by the strength of the values which they defend and by an enormous confidence in the future of their country.

Overcoming the borders of the political forces that supported it (the PCP, the PEV [Greens] and ID [Democratic Intervention]), this candidacy – that united many thousands of men and women who are not members of political parties or who have other political allegiances – represents an expression of confidence and determination in a better life that will extend beyond this day and these elections.

8. I wish to greet here all those – Communists, Greens, independents, supporters of other political forces – who, with their action, their support, their words of help or encouragement, strengthened this candidacy and the values of April that it embodies; all those who recognized in this candidacy a clear option on the side of the workers, of small and medium entrepreneurs, of pensioners, of those who most suffer; all those who, through their support and vote have raised higher the demand for a democratic and left-wing break with the right-wing policies that have caused so many problems for our people and country.

To all of them, to the Portuguese workers and people, I wish to reaffirm that their support and their votes will always find in me and in the collective project for which I struggle – today, tomorrow and always – an active presence in defence of their rights and of their yearnings for a better life.