Seguro won Portugal’s presidential election with a strong mandate despite both the campaign and the vote being hit by violent storms with tragic consequences and significant property damage. Voters cast ballots in difficult conditions and Ventura criticized the government’s response.
António José Seguro of the Socialist Party (PS) won the second round of Portugal’s presidential election by a significant margin over opponent André Ventura of the Chego party after 98 percent of the vote was counted. TASR informs about it according to the report of the AFP agency.
Sixty-three-year-old Seguro won 66.6 percent of the vote, while his 43-year-old rival Ventura received 33.4 percent, near-final results show. The election campaign was disrupted by storms and strong winds in the country, which claimed at least seven lives and caused an estimated four billion euros worth of damage.
The storms affected the election
The storms forced authorities to postpone elections by a week in about 20 of the worst-hit constituencies. However, most of the 11 million eligible voters in Portugal and abroad had already cast their ballots on Sunday. Ventura criticized the government’s response to the bad weather and initially tried to postpone elections across the country, writes AFP.
Results of the first round
In the first round of presidential elections three weeks ago, Seguro won 31 percent of the vote, but fell short of the supermajority needed to win. A total of 11 candidates ran, and the current head of state, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, could no longer run for a third consecutive term.
The president in Portugal has a largely representative function, but has several key powers, including the right to veto laws, dissolve parliament and call early elections.
