“Moderating Power” and Partisan Presidents: Two Empirical Cases

Abstract

Presidents in Portugal and Timor-Leste tend not to behave as party agents. Often they do not have party affiliation; when they do, they generally are senior figures who do not hold active responsibilities in their parties. However, the constitution allows for the existence of partisan presidents. After surveying the relations between presidents and governments in the democratic era of both countries, this chapter examines two instances in which presidents have forsaken the expected non-partisan rule and acted either as party agents or in very close association with a given coalition with significant impact on their capacity to act as moderators within the institutional system. The second term in office of Cavaco Silva and the first half of Lu Olo ongoing term are discussed in this chapter.