Portugal returns to elections. This time the 9 million citizens will have to elect the President of the Republic, the ninth since the 1974 revolution.
Cavaco Silva ends his mandate after five years at the helm of the country. The Lisbon Constitution does not provide for the possibility of a second candidacy.
After the political chaos deriving from the gubernatorial elections, won by the coalition formed by PSD and PP, the new Executive is now led by the socialist Antonio Costa, who after weeks of stagnation, has managed to form an alliance with the other left-wing parties.
The presidential election takes place in two rounds. If one of the candidates gets more than 50% of the votes, Portugal will have a new President. Otherwise there will be a run-off on February 14 between the two candidates with the most votes. According to history, in the eight rounds of elections called from 1974 to today, only once was the second round necessary: in 1986, when Mário Soares obtained 25,43% in the first round and 51,18% in the second.
But the situation may be complicated by the high number of candidates. This election has in fact reached an historic record, with 10 aspiring Presidents of the Republic. According to the latest polls, one of the favorites should be Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, former minister and president of the PSD, the centre-right Social Democratic Party of the current president, Aníbal Cavaco Silva. The various surveys give him a result of more than 50% in the first round, a percentage that would ensure victory already on Sunday the 24th. Sampaio da Nóvoa and Maria de Belém follow with 16% of the preferences.
