The President of Portugal was returned to office for a second term with a resounding victory in an election held amid a devastating COVID-19 surge that has continued to ravage the European nation.
The centre-right president was re-elected on Sunday by a comfortable majority to a second five-year term after a campaign fought during one of the world’s worst outbreaks of coronavirus. According to reports, Rebelo de Sousa, a former leader of the opposition Social Democrats, had polled almost 61 per cent of the votes with only two neighbourhoods still to be counted, winning an outright victory without having to face a run-off.
Meanwhile, Ana Gomes, a member of the governing Socialist party running as an independent, won the second-largest share of the vote, with almost 13 percent, slightly ahead of André Ventura, leader of Chega (Enough), a far-right populist party. Four other candidates ran for head of state.
In his victory speech, Rebelo de Sousa said the country’s most urgent task was combating the pandemic. “Everything starts with the battle against the pandemic,” he said.
Record Low Turnout
Turnout was projected to be less than 40 per cent, a record low in a presidential election, for the ballot held during a national lockdown and a worsening health crisis. This confirmed concerns that some people would stay away for fear of becoming infected with COVID-19. While there had been calls to postpone the elections, political leaders maintained that when the pandemic began to worsen, there was no longer enough time to change the Portuguese Constitution to allow the election’s postponement.
Portugal and Coronavirus
In the week before the election, Portugal reported the highest daily averages in the world for new coronavirus cases and deaths per 100,000 inhabitants, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Rebelo de Sousa, a center-right moderate and former leader of Portugal’s Social Democratic Party, will serve a 5-year term that will be his last due to term limits.
