More than a cross... a choice

^{Photo of the ballot paper I received today}

“This is the time when you have to choose: either you sail or you sink” - Sophia de Mello Breyner Andersen

Today is the day set for the second round of elections for the Presidency of the Republic of Portugal.

The previous round took place on January 18. Of the list of candidates for the nation's highest office, which initially consisted of fourteen people, only eleven made it to the second round. Of these eleven candidates, with a wide variety of personal, political, and even ideological backgrounds, two received the most votes.

The official results were 31% of the votes for António José Seguro and 23% for André Ventura.

There is a big difference between the two candidates. Seguro comes from a more moderate political background, from the center-left, and has a history in government. He went through some difficult times defending his seat in the Assembly of the Republic, as he fell out with the former Secretary-General of the Party and former Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa. André Ventura, on the other hand, has a much less liberal view. Originally from the center-right and from a social democratic party, the PSD, with deep roots and governmental traditions in Portugal, he ended up leaving the party and founding the political party “CHEGA.” This party is markedly patriotic, conservative, and self-described as economically liberal.

Under the terms of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic, the office of President of the Republic is a sovereign body, like the Assembly of the Republic, the Government, and the courts themselves. The powers of the president are much more of a moderating power than a governmental one, as is the case in other nations, such as the US or Brazil.

In Portugal, presidents have always managed to secure a second term in office.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has had two particularly difficult terms. He has dealt with a pandemic—COVID-19—a crisis in the national health system, and several disasters, such as the Pedrogão Grande fires and, more recently, less than three weeks ago, storms that affected much of the central and coastal regions of the country, wreaking havoc on infrastructure, such as the roofs of private and industrial buildings, electricity distribution networks (which has left some areas without power to this day), and communications networks.

However, his time as a judge was not all plain sailing. He became involved in a number of police “cases,” the most high-profile of which involved a request for help for twin girls with dual nationality (Portuguese and Brazilian) belonging to a couple who were friends of his son, who ended up being treated with specific medication through the National Health Service.

He was criticized by many for having served two terms focused on issues that divided society, such as the period before decolonization and the likely compensation to be paid to countries that later became independent.

In other words, despite his popularity at the time of his first election, Marcelo has been losing popular support.

And how did the nationalist party “CHEGA” come about? Well, in my view, it all has to do with the space that was created by the reduction in representation in the Assembly of the Republic of other center-right and right-wing parties, which until just over 15 years ago always had representation percentages of around 30 to 40%.

The “disappearance” of CDS-PP party deputies from the Assembly of the Republic meant that many of their voters had to find a party that could represent them and with which they felt represented in some way.

The PSD party, despite being right-wing, is much more centrist than the CDS-PP, and the “CHEGA” party took advantage of this space to start bringing people and ideas together around it.

In my opinion, the national and international situation does not call for a disruptive change in the nation's highest office, as diplomacy must prevail. I understand that candidate André Ventura, despite the fact that his ideas are in some ways very appealing to a certain sector of the population, would not benefit everyone, nor would they be taken lightly.

Today, I went to vote. I did so of my own free will, with a free spirit, and with a sense of responsibility. It wasn't just a matter of putting a cross on the ballot. It was a way of expressing my interest in saying what I think about the two candidates. It's more than just a vote. It's something we gained more than fifty years ago, the possibility of suffrage and free voting, and we must never let that right slip away.

Today was a day when democracy won. The Portuguese people were called to vote and elect a new president. And we did.

The current results give António José Seguro almost 67%, with André Ventura winning approximately 33%. There was an increase in the percentage of blank votes, which were almost 3%, with almost 2% of votes being invalid... (1)
This is something that should be looked at in the future.

I believe that André Ventura has a chance of winning the position of Prime Minister. We are currently experiencing in Portugal something that has been seen in French politics in recent years. Marie LePen always wins top positions, but never manages to win first place, yet her discourse is gaining more and more strength and more voters over time...

^{Original text written by me in Portuguese and translated with DeepL.com (free version)}