Gouveia e Melo does not want to be reappointed and should announce his presidential candidacy in March

The Chief of Staff of the Navy (CEMA), Admiral Gouveia e Melo, refused to be reappointed to the position and told the Minister of Defense, Nuno Melo, that he was unavailable to continue in the position. Your mandate ends on December 27th. According to SIC, the admiral must move to the reserve at the end of March, when he will present his candidacy the President of the Republic. Until March, Gouveia e Melo will keep to service of the Ministry of Defense and the Navy.

Also according to SIC, there are already mayors showing support for his candidacy. This Friday, as reported by the Express, the Admiral could stay at the head of the Navy for a few more months, but without completing the next term in full.

In September last year, a SIC/Expresso survey pointed out Henrique Gouveia e Melo as the Portuguese’s favorite name to be the next president of the Republic. According to the survey, Almirante was the most popular among right-wing voters and on the left, only António Costa surpassed him. A year later, a new survey he once again attributed favoritism in the presidential race to Gouveia e Melo, with an advantage of almost six percentage points over Pedro Passos Coelho.

This Tuesday, the admiral met Nuno Melo in bar in Lisbon. The Minister of Defense and the Navy minimized the meeting, saying that it was about “issues” between the two.

Henrique Gouveia e Melo is 64 years old and gained popularity with the pandemic, as he became the coordinator of the working group that managed the planned vaccination against covid-19.