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Center-right candidate Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was re-elected president of Portugal with 60.7 percent of the vote in Sunday’s elections. The victory was clear, and had been predicted by the polls: behind him Ana Gomes, candidate of the Socialist Party, stopped with 12.97 percent of the votes. An anomalous situation is confirmed in the country, with a conservative president and a socialist government, headed by Prime Minister Antonio Costa.
The leader of the far-right Chega party, André Ventura, finished third with 11.9 percent of the votes, a result that certifies the rapid growth of the far-right in Portugal, where until two years ago the Chega party (which means ” Enough “)) didn’t even exist. At that time, the country was seen as an exception on the European political scene, precisely because of the lack of far-right parties.
Portugal defines itself as a semi-presidential system. It means that the Portuguese president does not have an exclusively ceremonial role as is the case in many European political systems, including Italy: he has competences on various issues, for example national security and foreign policy. At the same time, it does not have all the powers expected by other much stronger semi-presidential systems, including the French.
Rebelo de Sousa is 72 years old, is part of the Social Democratic, Liberal and Conservative Party, and was elected President of the Republic for the first time in 2016. In recent weeks he had received several attacks for his handling of the pandemic and his consent was partially rejected . (in December the polls gave it to 68 percent), while still being solid. He himself admitted the failure of the country to predict the third wave and opened the possibility that the current blockade will extend until March.
The elections were characterized by a large abstention: only 39.5 percent of those who had the right to vote, and in large part likely due to the coronavirus and the distrust of the crowds at polling stations. In Portugal the health system is suffering severely: since the beginning of January there has been a new record of infections practically every day, and places in intensive care are scarce.
– Read also: Portugal’s healthcare system is collapsing
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