Socialist António José Seguro on course for victory but gains by André Ventura’s Chega could herald watershed
Portuguese voters will return to the polls on Sunday for the final round of a presidential election that has been marked by a push to keep the far-right candidate at bay and overshadowed by deadly storms that have lashed the country in recent days.
The moderate leftwing candidate António José Seguro won the first round of the election, which was held on 18 January, taking 31.1% of the vote.
André Ventura, the leader of the far-right party Chega – now the second-largest party in parliament – took 23.5% of the vote, while João Cotrim de Figueiredo, of the conservative pro-business Liberal Initiative party, came third among the 11 candidates, winning about 16% of the vote. Luis Marques Mendes, the candidate for Portugal’s ruling Social Democratic party (PSD), came fifth with 11.3% of the vote.
Before the campaign was all but officially interrupted by two deadly and destructive storms, some conservative figures in the country had staged a rare display of apparent unity by declaring their support for Seguro in an attempt to head off the possibility of a far-right presidency. Others, including Portugal’s centre-right prime minister, Luís Montenegro, have refused to throw their weight behind the socialist.
