The elected president of Portugal, António José Seguro, has put the emergency generated by the floods that have hit the country for two weeks at the top of his agenda. While trying to digest a much larger victory than he himself expected, Seguro held a meeting with the outgoing president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and conversations with the mayors of the most impacted cities.

First modification: 02/09/2026 - 22:36 Last modification: 02/09/2026 - 22:43

The avalanche of votes with which he won the runoff against the far-right André Ventura has not intoxicated the elected president of Portugal. The moderate socialist António José Seguro held his first contacts on February 9 regarding the transfer of command, with the storm emergency as his main priority.

On February 8, Seguro confirmed the projections that gave him the victory in the second round, but he did so with an unusually wide margin, with 66.7% of the votes, double that of Ventura, a former sports commentator who based his campaign on the rejection of immigration and questioning the system.

The socialist benefited from a record vote of 3,482,481 favorable ballots, the largest obtained in a presidential election in 50 years of democracy, surpassing Mário Soares' peak in 1991.

But Ventura's 33.3% represents a big jump for his far-right party, Chega, from the 22.8% it won in last year's general election.

Chega became the second most represented force in parliament, behind the ruling center-right and displacing the socialists to third place.

To a large extent, Seguro's victory was boosted by the support of prominent conservative politicians who preferred his option to that of Ventura, perceived as populist and with authoritarian tendencies.

"The response that the Portuguese people have given today, their commitment to freedom, democracy and the future of our country, leaves me naturally moved and proud of our nation," Seguro, 63, celebrated in statements to the media.

Read alsoPortugal: protesters in Lisbon reject the labor reform proposal

Preparing the transfer of command and emergency response

Seguro's first official act was a visit to the outgoing president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, at the Belém palace, whom he will succeed for a five-year term starting on March 9.

He will surely have an office in the government house to initiate the link and it is expected that his management will be more reserved than that of the communicative Rebelo, but not necessarily completely aligned with the agenda of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.

In fact, he has already warned that, although his priority will be to ensure governability, he reserves the right to veto the labor reform currently being discussed in parliament, if it does not have the support of the unions.

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Seguro also spent the first day after his election holding calls with the mayors of the cities most affected by storms Kristin, Leonardo and Marta, which have hit the Iberian Peninsula the last two weeks.

A source from his campaign told the EFE agency that Seguro spoke with the regional leaders of Alcácer do Sal, Montemor-o-Velho, Pombal, Golegã, Leiria and Arruda dos Vinhos, who have suffered floods, landslides and road closures, as well as considerable material losses.

Although they will no longer have an impact on the outcome of the runoff, several constituencies must still hold their electoral process, since the rain emergency forced local authorities to postpone voting until February 15.

Read alsoSpain and Portugal, on alert for storm Marta after days of extreme rain

Historical leap or electoral ceiling?

André Ventura also had his own reasons to celebrate following the electoral result and he did so by appealing to the anti-system agenda that has given him so much profit.

"The entire political system, both right and left, united against me. Even so, I believe that the leadership of the right is defined and assured today. I hope to lead that political space from today," he said as he left a Catholic mass in Lisbon.

“We didn't win, but we are on the path to that victory,” Ventura had said on February 8 when he recognized Seguro's victory.

But analysts believe that, despite the fact that Chega has established itself as the second force in parliament, the jump on February 8 could mean that it has reached its electoral ceiling.

"I sincerely do not believe that Chega can rise much beyond a third of the electorate, which is the threshold he has reached in these elections," estimated political scientist at the Catholic University of Lisbon José Tomaz Castello Branco, quoted by the Reuters agency.

"I don't believe this idea that he is now affirming of leading the right in Portugal," the expert continued, although he acknowledged that "voters are beginning to lose the shyness of voting for an extreme right-wing party."

With this result, Portugal votes against the trend of the rest of Europe, which is experiencing an accelerated and constant return of the extreme right, populism and anti-immigrant options.

"It is interesting to see that most people voted with the idea of ​​moderation over extremism, because a large part of the votes directed to the right in the first round went (in the runoff) to Seguro," assessed André Santos Pereira, associate director of the Political Intelligence thought laboratory, in conversation with EFE.

Read alsoThe moderate Antonio Seguro sweeps away the extreme right and is elected president of Portugal

Conn Reuters, EFE and AP

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