Portugal Heads Toward Rare Presidential Runoff

(MENAFN) Portugal is preparing for a presidential runoff for only the second time in its history, after no contender was projected to surpass 50% of the ballots in Sunday’s initial round, according to exit surveys.

Citizens went to the polls to select their next head of state amid growing backing for candidate Andre Ventura of the far-right Chega movement.

Current conservative President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who captured nearly 60% of the vote in 2021, is finishing his second and final five-year mandate. Eleven hopefuls are vying to replace him, including Ventura, who obtained nearly 12% in the last presidential contest.

Exit surveys conducted by ICS-ISCTE-Pitagorica indicated that opposition Socialist Party contender Antonio Jose Seguro was ahead with between 30.8% and 35.2% of the ballots, followed by Ventura with 19.9% to 24.1%.

The numbers point to Seguro and Ventura progressing to a second round on Feb. 8, as no candidate is anticipated to secure an absolute majority.

Joao Cotrim de Figueiredo of the Liberal Initiative party trailed closely with between 16.3% and 20.1%, according to the exit survey.

Independent hopeful Henrique Gouveia e Melo was estimated to gain between 9.2% and 12.4%, while Luis Marques Mendes of the governing center-right Social Democratic Party was projected to receive between 9.1% and 12.3%.

Portugal has previously held a second round in a presidential race only once, in 1986, when former Socialist Prime Minister Mario Soares overturned a first-round setback to defeat Freitas do Amaral.

The campaign has unfolded against a backdrop of disputes over social inequality, low salaries, housing scarcities, limitations on migrant rights, and labor measures introduced by the conservative administration of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro.

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