Antonio Jose Seguro to face Andre Ventura in Portugal presidential runoff

Moderate socialist Antonio Jose Seguro came out on top in the first round of Portugal’s presidential election, followed by far-right leader Andre Ventura; the two will face a runoff on 8 February. With all the votes counted, Seguro garnered 31.1% and Ventura 23.5%. Joao Cotrim de Figueiredo of the rightwing, pro-business Liberal Initiative party came third with about 16% among a total of 11 contenders; Luis Marques Mendes came fifth at 11.3%.

Other contenders included retired Adm Henrique Gouveia e Melo, who led the country’s Covid-19 vaccination campaign, with 12.3%, and comedian Manuel Joao Vieira, who had just over 1% of the vote, according to partial results. The presidency is a largely ceremonial role but wields some key powers, including in some circumstances to dissolve parliament, to call a snap parliamentary election, and to veto legislation.

In the five decades since Portugal threw off its fascist dictatorship, a presidential election has only once before required a runoff – in 1986 – underlining how fragmented the political landscape has become with the rise of the far right and voter disenchantment with mainstream parties.

All recent opinion polls have shown Ventura losing the runoff because of a high rejection rate of more than 60% of voters, analysts say.

Key Topics

Politics, Antonio Jose Seguro, Andre Ventura, Portugal, Chega, Liberal Initiative