Portugal chooses between centre-left Socialist and far-right firebrand in presidential runoff

Centre-left Socialist candidate Antonio Jose Seguro is favoured to defeat far-right populist Andre Ventura in Portugal’s runoff presidential election 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 the more than 50 percent of the vote required for victory.

But making it through to the runoff is already a milestone for former TV sports commentator 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.

Polling stations opened at 8am (0800 GMT), with 11 million voters at home and abroad eligible to cast their ballots. First exit polls are expected around 8pm. 

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.

But 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.

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Ventura has said that, if elected on Sunday, he would seek constitutional changes to expand the president's limited powers and would be a more "interventionist" head of state.

Despite winning 23.5 percent of the vote against Seguro's 31.1 percent in last month's first round, Ventura has failed to realise his stated ambition to unite ‍the right for the runoff.

Conservatives, including former ​President Anibal Cavaco Silva and some ministers in the current centre-right government, as well as ​most first-round candidates, have backed Seguro against what they see as Ventura's authoritarian tendencies. 

Centre-right Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has declined to support either candidate.

In May, Portugal held its third general election in three years in the country's worst bout of political instability for decades, and steadying the ship is a key challenge for the next president.

Ventura, an eloquent and theatrical politician, has rejected political accommodation in favor of a more combative stance. One of his main targets has been what he calls excessive immigration, as foreign workers have become more conspicuous in Portugal in recent years. 

“Portugal is ours,” he said.

During the campaign, Ventura put up billboards across the country saying, “This isn’t Bangladesh” and “Immigrants shouldn’t be allowed to live on welfare”.

Although he founded his party less than seven years ago, its surge in public support made it the second-largest party in Portugal’s parliament in the May 18 general election.

As in much of Europe, the far right's influence has already swayed government policies, particularly on immigration, towards a more ‌restrictive stance.

In March, the winner will replace centre-right President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has served the limit of two five-year terms.

(FRANCE 24 with AP, Reuters and AFP)