Portuguese President Rebelo de Sousa Wins Election, Polls Show

(Bloomberg) -- Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will serve a second term after winning more than 50% of the vote in Sunday’s election, avoiding a runoff, exit polls showed.Rebelo de Sousa, 72, took between 57% and 62% of the vote, according to the exit poll by the Catholic University for RTP television. Two other exit polls for television channels SIC and TVI also show the president winning more than 50% of the vote. Portuguese presidents have usually served two terms and the last runoff election was in 1986.

In Portugal, the prime minister and his government set policy. The president serves five-year terms and is mainly a figurehead, though he has the authority to appoint the premier and dissolve parliament. Rebelo de Sousa, a law professor and former leader of center-right party PSD, became popular as a political commentator on television before his initial election in 2016.The ruling Socialist Party of Prime Minister Antonio Costa didn’t present a candidate. Ana Gomes, a candidate who is a Socialist, placed second in the election with between 13% and 16%, according to the RTP exit poll.

While confinement measures are in place due to the coronavirus pandemic, travel was allowed for voting. Portugal on Sunday reported the highest daily number of deaths from Covid-19 since the start of the outbreak after announcing a record daily increase in confirmed virus cases on Saturday.