The reasonable socialist Antonio José Seguro was elected president of Portugal yesterday with a transparent victory within the run-off: he obtained a five-year mandate and the return of a socialist exponent to the helm of the state after twenty years. Seguro overtook the far-right candidate André Ventura with round 66% of the votes, additionally because of the assist of conservative and centrist sectors, anxious by the populist and radical positions of the Chega chief.
The vote came about in a context of extreme dangerous climate, with intense rain, wind and flooding which hit varied areas of the nation within the earlier days. In some small municipalities, the floods pressured the authorities to postpone voting, however at a nationwide degree the turnout was according to that of the primary spherical.
According to the outcomes, which cowl 99.2% of constituencies, Antonio Jose Seguro obtained 66.8% of the votes, towards 33.2% for Andre Ventura, a 43-year-old deputy and chief of the Chega (“Enough”) occasion. The former normal secretary of the Socialist Party (2011-2014) will succeed the conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who held the place for ten years, on March 9.
“The winners tonight are the Portuguese and democracy,” commented the longer term head of state, expressing his need to be “the president of all the Portuguese.”
Despite the defeat, Ventura emerges strengthened on a political degree: with round 34% of the vote, he clearly improves on earlier outcomes and consolidates Chega as a central participant within the right-wing space, confirming the expansion of the far proper in Portugal and in Europe. The presidency, regardless of having a largely ceremonial function, enjoys key powers such because the dissolution of Parliament and the legislative veto and the election of Seguro seems to be a component of stability for Portugal’s political steadiness.
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