Portuguese voters head to the polls on Sunday to elect their next president, with opinion surveys pointing to a likely second-round vote as support for the far right continues to rise. Incumbent conservative President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who won nearly 60% of the vote in 2021, is completing his second and final five-year term, prompting a crowded race with 11 candidates vying to succeed him. Among the contenders is Andre Ventura, leader of the far-right Chega party, who secured nearly 12% in the last presidential election and has since expanded his political base. Other prominent candidates include Luis Marques Mendes of the ruling center-right Social Democratic Party, Antonio Jose Seguro of the opposition Socialist Party, Joao Cotrim de Figueiredo of the Liberal Initiative party, and independent candidate Henrique Gouveia e Melo. A poll released Wednesday by RTP News suggested a second round, scheduled for Feb. 8, is almost certain. The survey showed Ventura leading with about 24% of the vote, followed closely by Seguro at 23%, while Figueiredo trailed with 19%. Portugal has only once held a second round in a presidential election, in 1986, when former Socialist prime minister Mario Soares overturned a first-round loss to defeat Freitas do Amaral. The campaign has unfolded amid debates over social inequality, low wages, housing shortages, migrant rights restrictions and labor policies introduced by the conservative government of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro. Chega, founded seven years ago and led by Ventura, became the country's main opposition party for the first time following early parliamentary elections held last May. While Ventura is expected to lead the first round, analysts say winning an outright majority in a runoff would be difficult. About 11 million voters are registered to vote in the election, including roughly 1.6 million Portuguese citizens living abroad. — Agencies
