Portuguese rivals set for second round

Press, 28 January 1986, Page 26

Portuguese rivals set for second round

NZPA-Reuter Lisbon The Right-wing candidate, Diogo Freitas do Amaral, and the former socialist Prime Minister, Mario Soares, are set to face each other in a second round of Portugal’s presidential election after beating the two other candidates yesterday. With almost all the votes counted the two men were well ahead of their rivals, the dissident socialist, Francisco Salgado Zenha, and the independent Leftist, Maria de Lourdes Pintasilgo, both of whom conceded defeat.

Official forecasts gave Freitas do Amaral about 47 per cent of the vote and his campaign organisers said they were satisfied with the result.

As the only Right-wing candidate, Freitas do Amaral’s supporters had hoped he would gain the 50 per cent of the vote needed to win outright in the first round.

Dr Soares, with about 25 per cent, was likely to pick up many of his defeated rivals’ votes in the

second round, but would still have trouble matching the Right-winger’s high score, political commentators said. "It will be difficult but I believe the people of the Left will support me in the second round,” Dr Soares said.

“The Left is still the majority in Portugal,” he said.

Whoever is elected in the second round on February 16 will become the first civilian president in 60 years, taking over from General Antonio Ramalho Eanes who must step down after two five-year terms.

The candidates had hailed the all-civilian poll as reinforcing the country’s Western-style democracy after the military revolution which overthrew 50 years of Rightwing dictatorship in 1974.

It was the thirteenth election since the revolution but its personalised nature had gripped popular interest and only about 25 per cent of the 7,600,087 voters abstained.