With more than 66% of the votes, the former minister won this Sunday's elections in the second round of the presidential elections. This meant a setback for the far-right leader André Ventura and a respite for the socialists, who had come third in the legislative elections. The space will occupy the presidency after two decades, in coexistence with the center-right that has control of the government.

First modification: 02/09/2026 - 02:05

Portugal held the second round of the presidential elections this Sunday, February 8. The results showed former socialist minister António José Seguro as the clear winner, who defeated the far-right André Ventura (Chega) with 66.14% of the votes and will be the successor of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa after ten years in office.

With a moderate profile and reaching out to right-wing voters, Seguro obtains a significant victory after returning to politics after more than a decade. It also gives back to the socialists - who received a hard blow in the legislative elections, coming third - their place in the Palácio de Belém, 20 years after the departure of Jorge Sampaio.

Sure, with a past as a European parliamentarian, he was general secretary of the Socialist Party (PS), a space that he headed between 2011 and 2014.

After speaking out as an independent and despite facing resistance to his candidacy within the socialists, Seguro received the support of the party and also of relevant center-right figures who were left out of the race after the first round.

To display this content from X (Twitter), you must allow audience measurement and advertising cookies.

After moving away from the political world and fully dedicating himself to being a teacher of State Theory and Social Political Thought, at 63 years old he returned with a resounding victory.

Although the PS has not hesitated to celebrate, the victory is rather personal, considering that the presidential candidacies in Portugal are transversal to the political forces and that Seguro did not initially have the support of the socialists.

Sure: "The winners are the Portuguese and democracy"

The leader of the far-right Chega, André Ventura, quickly came out to acknowledge defeat before the microphones. "It seems that I have not managed to do what I set out to do, which was to win these elections," he noted, although he highlighted the rise of his party which, for him, now "leads the right" and will govern "soon" in Portugal.

In turn, Seguro highlighted that "the winners tonight are the Portuguese and democracy."

"I accept with great humility, enormous emotion and the trust that the Portuguese have just entrusted to me to be president of the republic, the president of everyone, everyone, all the Portuguese," he stated in a speech in the auditorium of Caldas da Rainha, where he resides and spent election day.

Also, despite the differences, he extended his hand to Ventura and encouraged him to stop being adversaries and work "for a more developed and fairer Portugal."

More than eleven million citizens were summoned to cast their vote in an uncomfortable context due to the inclement weather that has been going on for two weeks and the floods that they caused in different parts of the country.

The bad weather of the last few hours forced some hard-hit areas to delay the elections for a week, affecting 36,852 voters.

The president remembered those affected by the floods, promised to visit the affected areas and stressed that "there is a lot of work to do, we need a prepared country, not a surprised country, we have to be better at organization than at improvisation."

The center-right, open to working with Seguro

The Portuguese Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, asserted that his administration will cooperate "positively and constructively" with the country's new president.

"The Government will continue to govern in what concerns it, it will continue to cooperate in a positive and constructive manner with the Presidency of the Republic, as we did with the current president," Montenegro stated before the media.

The premier also assured that, from what he knows Seguro, he knows for sure that "it will not be difficult" to have a healthy and productive relationship.

He assuredly confirmed, as he had done during the campaign, that he will maintain "institutional loyalty" with the Executive and promised that "I will not be an opponent, but a demander." His commitment to stability, he added, will be "a means to guarantee the conditions of governability, never an end to keep everything the same."

In that sense, he urged that "after an electoral cycle of three elections and four trips to the polls in just nine months", Portugal has "a unique opportunity for political parties, Parliament and the Government to find lasting solutions to resolve the serious problems we face in health, access to housing, in the creation of opportunities for young people...".

For his part, the outgoing president, Rebelo de Sousa, announced that he will receive the winner of the elections on Monday to begin preparing the transition in the Head of State.

As indicated in a statement published on the president's website, there was telephone communication with Seguro to congratulate him on the victory.

The role of the president in Portugal is largely symbolic, with no direct influence on the executive administration, which remains in the hands of the prime minister. However, despite not traditionally being a figure that puts pressure on parliament, he does have the power to veto laws enacted in the chamber. Last but not least, it has the ability to dissolve parliament and call early elections.

With EFE

Related keywords

The content you requested does not exist or is no longer available.