Portugal presidential vote opens as far-right surge expected

Portugal started voting in the first round of a presidential election in which a far-right candidate could, for the first time, make it to a run-off, but with the final result hard to call.

Polls predict Andre Ventura, leader of the far-right Chega (“Enough”) party, could top the first round but would lose round two, regardless of which of the other candidates he faces there.

This would be the first time in four decades that a candidate has not won outright in the first-round ballot, which requires securing more than 50 percent of the vote.

Among the record 11 candidates in the running, only five have a realistic chance of making it to the decisive vote on February 8 to succeed conservative incumbent Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

In addition to Ventura, 43, they are: Socialist Antonio Jose Seguro, 63; liberal European Parliament lawmaker Joao Cotrim Figueiredo, 64; right-wing government candidate Luis Marques Mendes, 68; and Henrique Gouveia e Melo, a retired admiral who led Portugal’s Covid vaccination campaign.

Pollsters predict any of the four of Ventura’s potential rivals would trounce him in a second-round vote.

Polling stations opened at 8 a.m. (0800 GMT), and exit polls will be announced at 8 p.m.

Chega won 22.8 percent of the vote and 60 seats in a general election last May, overtaking the Socialists to become the biggest opposition party.