Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was easily re-elected Sunday, winning just under 61% of the vote, clearing the 51% threshold needed to avoid a run-off.
Ana Gomes, from the governing Socialist Party, came in second with nearly 13%, just one percentage point higher than the candidate from the populist Chega Party, André Ventura.
The 72-year-old was first elected in January 2016 with 52% of the votes, also in the first round. He represents the center-right Social Democratic Party.
In Parliamentary elections last year, Social Democrats won 79 seats in the 230-seat Parliament, the second highest behind the ruling Socialist Party, which took 108, just 10 short of a majority.
Six candidates competed for the presidential election Sunday. Early polling had predicted the president's easy victory.
De Sousa is on record as saying that relations with China are "exceptional," and the country has been accused of "playing both sides" of the US and China rivalry.
Almost 250,000 voters reportedly took part in the early vote for Portugal's presidential election on Sunday, Jan. 17, a record number of early voters.
Two weeks before the election, the 72-year-old head of state had returned an "asymptomatic" positive test for the Coronavirus, and he went into isolation in the presidential palace in Lisbon.
However, just two days later, officials reported that, "the result "of the test undergone during the night... is negative."
[FULL STORY HERE]
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