Portugal's incumbent president gets another term in office after a huge win Sunday in an election held in the face of a deadly increase in COVID-19 cases, the Associated Press reported Monday.
Widely expected to win, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa won 61% of the vote. A former leader of Portugal's Social Democratic Party, de Sousa will serve a five-year term that will be his last because of term limits.
The 72-year-old center-right moderate is popular for his warm disposition and habit of taking selfies with supporters. He is a charming and friendly law professor and former TV personality who as leader of the country has consistently enjoyed an approval rating of 60% or more.
De Sousa holds a largely ceremonial position but can veto certain legislation and decree states of emergency, an authority he has deployed during the pandemic.
Portugal has nearly 11 million registered voters and around 1.5 million of them live overseas. Every Portuguese president since 1976, when universal suffrage was introduced after the scrapping of a dictatorship, has been re-elected for a second term.
The turnout was less than 40% - significantly lower compared to recent elections and apparently validating doubts that some people would abstain from voting for fear of becoming infected with coronavirus.
Socialist bet Ana Gomes came second place with 13% but close behind in third was Andre Ventura, a newly arrived right-wing candidate whose 12% was a surprising development.
Portugal has the highest rates of new daily COVID-19 cases in the world and number of fatalities per 100,000 population, a tally by Johns Hopkins University shows, with the country's public health system overwhelmed.
"The most urgent of tasks is to contain the pandemic. This is my priority, in total solidarity with parliament and government," de Sousa said during his victory speech.
