Socialist candidate António José Seguro leads the first round of the presidential election in the country, followed by André Ventura, from Chega. The next election is scheduled for February 8th.
The socialist António José Seguro and the ultra-rightist André Ventura were the two candidates with the most votes in this Sunday’s elections (18/01) for the presidency of Portugal and will face each other in a second round scheduled for February 8.
With almost 98% of the votes counted, André Ventura, leader of the Chega party, obtained 24% of the votes. He was behind Seguro, from the Socialist Party (PS), who surprised by obtaining almost 31% of the votes. Research indicated that Ventura would come out ahead in the election.
In Portugal, the PS is mostly considered a center-left party, with Seguro presenting himself as appealing to the votes of the “moderate left”.
Nine other candidates ran in a record number of participants in the presidential election, but none came close to the more than 50% needed to win in the first round.
In the five decades since Portugal ended its dictatorship in 1974, a presidential election had required a second round only once, in 1986. The result reveals how fragmented the political landscape has become with the rise of the ultra-right and voters’ discontent with the country’s traditional parties.
In Portugal, the presidency is a largely ceremonial position, but it exercises some important powers, including dissolving parliament, calling early legislative elections and vetoing laws.
More than 11 million Portuguese citizens were eligible to vote to elect the successor to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, from the Social Democratic Party, who will leave his post after two five-year terms.
Ultraright grows in Portugal
In May last year, the ultra-right Chega party, founded seven years ago, became the main opposition party in the Portuguese parliament and the third in the country, with 22.8% of the votes.
Ventura’s rise captured support from the country’s two main parties that took turns in power in the last half of the century: the center-right Social Democratic Party, currently in government, and even the Socialist Party, from Seguro.
One of Ventura’s main targets has been what he calls “excessive immigration” as foreign workers have become more visible in Portugal in recent years. During the election campaign, he placed billboards across the country with messages such as: “This is not Bangladesh” and “Immigrants should not live on welfare.”
Despite Ventura’s favoritism in the first round, recent polls show that the candidate would lose the race in the second round due to his high rejection rate, over 60% of voters.
This Sunday, the ultra-rightist urged the right to unite at the polls: “I will fight day by day, minute by minute, second by second so that there is no socialist president. We will win,” he said.
Who is António Seguro?
Seguro is a veteran socialist leader and maintains a low profile in the ranks of the Socialist Party, which he led between 2011 and 2014.
According to the Portuguese newspaper O Observador, after leaving the leadership of the party due to internal disputes, he served on the Council of State, an advisory body to the presidency, and worked as a university professor before returning to politics in the presidential election.
He campaigned under republican and social justice banners, gaining traction in an election marked by issues such as the housing crisis and the cost of living in the country.
Originally published by DW on 01/18/2026
Source: https://www.ocafezinho.com/2026/01/19/esquerda-e-ultradireita-disputarao-2o-turno-em-portugal/
