Portugal chooses between moderate, populist in runoff presidential election

Centre-left Socialist candidate Antonio Seguro is heavily favoured to defeat hard-right populist Andre Ventura in Portugal’s runoff presidential election on Sunday in a vote that will test the depth of support for Ventura’s brash style of politics. Recent opinion polls say Seguro will collect twice as many votes as Ventura in the head-to-head between the two top candidates in last month’s first round of voting, when none of the runners captured more than 50 per cent of the vote required for victory.

But making it through to the runoff is already a milestone for Ventura and his Chega (Enough) party, which has quickly grown into a significant force in Portuguese politics during a wider European shift to the right. Seguro, a longstanding Socialist politician, has positioned himself as a moderate candidate who will cooperate with Portugal’s centre-right minority Government, repudiating Ventura’s anti-establishment and anti-immigrant tirades.

In Portugal, the president is largely a figurehead with no executive power. Traditionally, the head of state stands above the political fray, mediating disputes and defusing tensions. However, the president is an influential voice and possesses some powerful tools, being able to veto legislation from parliament, although the veto can be overturned. The head of state also possesses what in Portuguese political jargon is called an “atomic bomb,” the power to dissolve parliament and call early elections.