Middle-left Socialist candidate wins over populist in Portugal’s presidential runoff : NPR

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Ana Brigida/AP LISBON, Portugal — Middle-left Socialist candidate António José Seguro recorded a thumping victory over hard-right populist André Ventura in Portugal's runoff presidential election Sunday, based on official outcomes with 99% of votes counted.

Seguro gained a five-year time period in Lisbon's riverside "pink palace" with 66.7% of votes, in contrast with 33.3% for Ventura.

The poll was a chance to check the depth of assist for Ventura's brash model, which has struck a chord with voters and helped make his Chega (Sufficient) occasion the second-biggest within the Portuguese parliament, in addition to gauge the general public urge for food for Europe's growing shift to the precise lately.

European Fee President Ursula von der Leyen congratulated Seguro and stated on social media that "Portugal's voice for our shared European values stays sturdy."

Seguro, a longstanding Socialist politician, positioned himself as a average candidate who will cooperate with Portugal's center-right minority authorities, repudiating Ventura's anti-establishment and anti-immigrant tirades.

He gained the backing of different mainstream politicians on the left and proper who wish to halt the rising populist tide.

In Portugal, the president is essentially a figurehead with no government energy. Historically, the pinnacle of state stands above the political fray, mediating disputes and defusing tensions.

Nonetheless, the president is an influential voice and possesses some highly effective instruments, having the ability to veto laws from parliament, though the veto might be overturned. The pinnacle of state additionally possesses what in Portuguese political jargon is named an "atomic bomb," the ability to dissolve parliament and name early elections.

In Could, Portugal held its third basic election in three years within the nation's worst bout of political instability for many years, and steadying the ship is a key problem for the subsequent president.

<img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4776x3184+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/jpeg/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F26%2F8f%2Fdbef87dc4cafbb05be87a7d2890f%2Fap26039472430454.jpg" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/4776x3184+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F26%2F8f%2Fdbef87dc4cafbb05be87a7d2890f%2Fap26039472430454.jpg" class="img" alt="Presidential candidate Andre Ventura, of the populist Chega party, casts his ballot in Portugal's presidential election in Lisbon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026." loading="lazy"/> Presidential candidate Andre Ventura, of the populist Chega occasion, casts his poll in Portugal's presidential election in Lisbon, Sunday, Feb. 8, 2026. Ana Brigida/AP disguise caption

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Ana Brigida/AP Ventura, an eloquent and theatrical politician, rejected political lodging in favor of a extra combative stance.

Ventura stated he'll maintain working to convey a couple of political "transformation" in Portugal.

"I attempted to indicate there is a completely different approach … that we would have liked a special sort of president," he advised reporters.

Making it by means of to the runoff was already a milestone for Ventura and his occasion, which have recalibrated Portuguese politics.

Certainly one of Ventura's essential targets has been what he calls extreme immigration, as overseas staff have change into extra conspicuous in Portugal lately.

"Portugal is ours," he stated.

In the course of the marketing campaign, Ventura put up billboards throughout the nation saying, "This is not Bangladesh" and "Immigrants should not be allowed to stay on welfare."

Though he based his occasion lower than seven years in the past, its surge in public assist made it the second-largest occasion in Portugal's parliament within the Could 18 basic election.

Seguro will subsequent month substitute center-right President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has served the constitutional restrict of two five-year phrases.