Francisco Salgado Zenha

Francisco Salgado Zenha (Braga, May 2, 1923-Lisbon, November 1, 1993) was a prominent Portuguese jurist and politician.

Active in the student opposition to the fascist regime of António de Oliveira Salazar, in 1945 he was one of the founders of the youth wing of the Democratic Unity Movement (MUD). Due to his activities, he was imprisoned on several occasions. In addition, he participated in the presidential campaigns in the elections manipulated by the regime of opposition candidates such as Norton de Matos and Humberto Delgado.

In 1973 he was one of the founders of the Socialist Party (PS) together with Mário Soares. Before the fall of the dictatorship, he stood out as a defense lawyer for numerous anti-fascist and anti-colonial activists. After the Carnation Revolution of 1974, he was appointed Minister of Justice in the first four provisional governments and Minister of Finance in the fifth. Between 1974 and 1982 he was a deputy for the Socialist Party and a member of its Executive Committee. Despite this, starting in 1980 he began to distance himself from the PS and Mário Soares due to his support for the presidential candidacy of General Ramalho Eanes.

In 1986 he presented his candidacy for the presidency of the Republic, with the support of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Democratic Renewal Party (PRD). He obtained 20.9% of the votes, but failing to advance to the second round, he retired from politics.