Portugal Heads Toward Rare Presidential Runoff
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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