Portugal faces rare presidential runoff after no candidate wins majority
Voters across the country cast their ballots to select a new head of state amid growing momentum for Andre Ventura, the candidate representing the far-right Chega party.
The vote comes as conservative President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa nears the end of his second and constitutionally final five-year term. He previously secured close to 60% support in the 2021 election. A total of 11 candidates are vying to replace him, including Ventura, who captured nearly 12% in the previous presidential contest.
According to exit polling data, opposition Socialist Party candidate Antonio Jose Seguro emerges in first place with an estimated share ranging from roughly 31% to 35%, while Ventura follows with about 20% to 24%.
These projections suggest that Seguro and Ventura are likely to move on to a second-round vote scheduled for Feb. 8, as none of the candidates is expected to win a clear majority in the initial round.
Trailing behind them, Joao Cotrim de Figueiredo of the Liberal Initiative party is estimated to receive between about 16% and 20% of the vote.
Independent contender Henrique Gouveia e Melo is projected to secure between roughly 9% and 12%, while Luis Marques Mendes, running under the banner of the governing center-right Social Democratic Party, is seen receiving a similar share.
Portugal has resorted to a second-round presidential election only once before, in 1986, when former Socialist prime minister Mario Soares reversed a first-round loss to defeat Freitas do Amaral.
The election campaign unfolds amid heightened public debate over widening social inequality, stagnant wages, a housing crunch, tighter policies on migrant rights, and labor reforms introduced by the conservative government led by Prime Minister Luis Montenegro.
Chega, founded seven years ago under Ventura’s leadership, rose to become the main opposition force for the first time following early parliamentary elections held last May.
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