Aníbal Cavaco Silva

Aníbal Cavaco Silva (born July 15, 1939, Boliqueime, Portugal) is a Portuguese politician who served as the country’s president (2006–16) and prime minister (1985–95). Cavaco Silva also served as finance minister (1980–81).

A member of the centre-right Social Democratic Party, Cavaco Silva rose to power after a 1985 election that featured an upstart political faction called the Democratic Renewal Party. Although no party achieved a majority in the election, the Social Democrats held the most seats, allowing Cavaco Silva to become prime minister. Once in office, he helped to strengthen the economy, despite having to contend with a parliament that was controlled by opposition parties. He was reelected in 1991 by a large margin but later saw his popularity plummet when Portugal’s economy was affected by a European economic crisis and soaring unemployment rates.

After losing the 1995 presidential election to Socialist candidate Jorge Sampaio, Cavaco Silva retired from politics until 2005, when he made a second bid for the presidency. This time he was successful, and he was sworn in as president on March 9, 2006. After his election he remained an active member of the Club of Madrid, an international organization of former heads of state and government that promotes democracy throughout the world. Cavaco Silva’s career represented a significant milestone for Portugal, which had not seen such political success and longevity since the restoration of democracy in 1976.

He was reelected president in the first round of balloting in January 2011, but public malaise over Portugal’s struggling economy was reflected in a voter turnout of less than 50 percent. When the governing Social Democrat-led coalition failed to win a majority in the October 2015 parliamentary election, Cavaco Silva nevertheless invited incumbent Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho to form a minority government. Opposition parties decried the move as an overstep by the president, and Passos Coelho’s government lasted just two weeks before being brought down by a vote of no confidence. Cavaco Silva was constitutionally limited to serving two consecutive terms, and in 2016 he was succeeded by fellow Social Democrat Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.