Portuguese president wins re-election in landslide victory: preliminary results

LISBON - Portuguese incumbent President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was re-elected in Sunday's presidential election, partial results showed.

With 98.87 percent of votes counted, Rebelo de Sousa won a landslide victory by garnering 61.3 percent of the votes, while former member of European Parliament (MEP) Ana Gomes came second with 12.54 percent of the votes, ahead of right-wing party Chega candidate Andre Ventura, who came third with 11.89 percent of the votes, results showed.

The MEP of the Left Bloc, Marisa Matias, obtained 4.17 percent of the votes, while the deputy in the European Parliament for the Portuguese Communist Party, Joao Ferreira, collected 3.93 percent of the votes.

Portugal's presidential election was held with the lockdown measures under the state of emergency due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in an abstention rate of 61.46 percent, official data showed.

"I am happy with the effort of the Portuguese. In spite of all these (pandemic and inclement weather) ... it was a huge effort that was not foreseen," said Rebelo de Sousa after voting on Sunday afternoon.

Rebelo de Sousa's another five-year term will start on March 9, 2021.