Cotrim obtains necessary signatures in just 48 hours

The moment João Cotrim Figueiredo confirmed his candidacy for President of the Republic, during an interview on SIC, the announcement and immediate call for signatures appeared on social media. Two days later, the former Liberal leader reached the 7,500 signatures required to formalize his presidential candidacy.

In recent days, several stages of the process have been published on João Cotrim Figueiredo's page — first the target of 3,500, then 5,000, 6,500, and finally 7,500. Thus, the former liberal leader becomes the first candidate for Belém to announce such an achievement , just 48 hours after his candidacy was officialized.

Cotrim Figueiredo's campaign summarizes its effectiveness as follows: "Cotrim Phenomenon, 7,500 people signed the candidacy with a digital mobile key on the MAI platform within 48 hours of the candidacy being announced."

The campaign further clarifies that " no personal or partisan contact was made ," as no physical signatures were collected. "With only a counter on the campaign website and publications of the signature count on his social media, Cotrim Figueiredo overcame a typically lengthy and laborious process in 48 hours," the liberal campaign adds.

More than that, this is considered “also an example of technological and communicational innovation in politics”, since “just through communication on social media, Cotrim Figueiredo surely broke the record for the fastest collection of the total number of signatures ”.

So far, none of the candidates for Belém have announced that they have collected the number of signatures required for the 2026 presidential elections. Observador contacted the campaigns of Henrique Gouveia e Melo, Marques Mendes and António José Seguro and is awaiting responses regarding the numbers collected so far. The Social Democrat is not collecting signatures on the official website, preferring to collect them physically until now.

João Cotrim Figueiredo is going to the polls under the slogan "Imagine Portugal." He confirmed that he has a "core part of the team in place," including his financial representative, but noted that he wouldn't want the official presentation to distract from the local elections or the State Budget discussion. Therefore, it will be made official sometime during this "relatively short" timeframe.

Regarding objectives, the former Liberal leader acknowledged that, personally, he "would be dissatisfied if he had a lower percentage than he had in the European elections," even before knowing all his opponents. Furthermore, he considered that there are "conditions for reaching double digits" with a given campaign.

It's official: João Cotrim Figueiredo is a candidate for President of the Republic

If you have a story you'd like to share about irregularities in your municipality, please fill out this anonymous form .