Portugal votes against extremism

#410

Friend of Democracy,

In Portugal, Antonio José Seguro of the centre-left Socialist Party has secured a landslide victory and a five-year term as Portugal’s president.

Why is this important?

63-year-old Seguro, who is a former leader of Portugal’s Socialist Party, beat his far-right, anti-establishment rival, Andre Ventura, in a run-off vote. Seguro had won more than 65 per cent of the vote to Ventura’s 34 per cent, with more than 90 per cent of districts reporting.

So the extremist far-right has been beaten devastatingly?

Well. Ventura is the first extreme-right candidate to reach a run-off vote in Portugal. Second, with his 34 per cent of the vote, he is still likely to secure a much stronger result than the 22.8 per cent his anti-immigration Chega party achieved in last year’s general election. Third, despite his loss on Sunday, the 43-year-old Ventura, a charismatic former television sports commentator, can now boast increased support, reflecting the growing influence of the far right in Portugal and much of Europe.

Back to the winner and the new presidency, how powerful is the president of Portugal?

Executive power is mainly with the government, led by the prime minister. The president stands above day-to-day politics and acts as a guardian of the Constitution and political stability. They can dissolve parliament and call early elections (this has been done multiple times in modern Portugal). And they appoint the prime minister (usually the leader of the largest parliamentary majority, but not automatically).

In a nutshell:

Voters in Portugal have spoken out emphatically against populism and right-wing extremism. However, this does not mean that such anti-democratic politics are on the decline in Portugal.

See you in Democracy,

Johannes Eber