Off the wire
• 1st LD-Writethru: China renews orange alert for cold wave  • Australian Open results  • Weather forecast for world cities -- Jan. 24  • Cross-country World Cup results  • Weather forecast for major Chinese cities, regions -- Jan. 24  • Spanish people prefer coalition without Rajoy or Sanchez: poll  • 2 killed, 100 injured as Japan hit by heavy snowfall  • Roundup: Syrian army captures key rebel bastion amid collapse in insurgents' frontline  • Top court launches campaign to enforce judgments  • Chinese navy fleet starts visit to Indonesia  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD Writethru: Portuguese voters head to polls to choose new president

Xinhua, January 24, 2016 Adjust font size:

Portuguese presidential election kicked off on Sunday morning with a total of some 9.7 million eligible voters to choose a new president for the next five years.

The voting started at 8 am local and to end at 7 pm and the turned out rate in the election is expected to be low.

A record 10 candidates are running for president of Portugal this year and two of them are female.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is the front runner and expected to win the election, according to the latest opinion poll published on Friday.

The poll conducted by Portuguese Catholic University showed Rebelo de Sousa, a veteran political of Social Democratic Party (PSD) will get 52 percent of votes while independent Sampaio da Novoa, a former president of Lisbon University, will obtain 22 percent and Maria de Belem, former president of the Socialist Party, only 8 percent.

The 66-year old Teresa Cid told Xinhua that the election is very crucial to the Portuguese people as Portugual needs a capable leader to lead the country out of difficulty under the current situation, therefore it's important that more voters can cast their ballots. She also expressed her belief that the new president will bring happiness to his people.

Nuno Chaveiro, 39, said that the Socialist government has restored the benefits cut by the previous government soon after it took power but there is profound doubt that where will the money come from.

He added that he anticipated that a run-off could be held as more voters will know better how to make their right choice.

According to Portugual's Constitutioin, only a candidate who secures more than 50 percent of votes will be elected president, otherwise the two who get the most votes will contend in an run-off, on February 14 for this year.

The 67-year-old Rebelo de Sousa, a law professor graduated from Law School of Lisbon University, is a popular TV commentator and former secretary-general of PSD.

Portuguese president serves five-years in a term and can be elected for another. The largely ceremonial president is powered to dissolve the parliament, call a snap election and appoint who wins the election as the country's prime minister.

The incumbent president Anibal Cavaco Silva, aged 76, was elected president in January 2006 and reelected in 2011. Enditem