Paulo Cunha / LUSA
Marques Mendes and António José Seguro
Formal declaration should be public in the next few hours, guarantees a source close to the candidate supported by the PSD, who came in fifth place in the first round.
After having said that he would not declare support for anyone for the second round, Luís Marques Mendes retreated and prepared to declare his support for António José Seguro In the second round of the presidential elections, the national press advances based on sources close to the former social-democratic leader.
When asked about his voting intentions on election night, the former PSD leader refused to endorse any candidate, arguing that he did not “own” the votes entrusted to him. He was highly criticized for not taking a stand — especially because, during the campaign, Mendes had attacked João Cotrim de Figueiredo for not having ruled out the possibility of supporting André Ventura in a second round.
Who on the right supports Seguro
The support now announced brings Marques Mendes closer to other social democrats who have already sided with Seguro. Among them are Pedro Duarte, Miguel Poiares Maduro, David Justino, José Pacheco Pereira, Cristóvão Norte, José Eduardo Martins and António Capucho.
Figures linked to IL also support Seguro, such as Mário Amorim Lopes, Carlos Guimarães Pinto, José Miguel Júdice and Rodrigo Saraiva.
From CDS-PP, Francisco Rodrigues dos Santos and former deputy and now commentator Cecília Meireles will support Seguro.
Marques Mendes obtained 11.3% of the votes last Sunday. António José Seguro, with 31.1% and André Ventura, with 23.5%, passed to the second round, scheduled for February 8th.
