The winning margin for Rebelo de Sousa varied from the northern district of Viseu, where he picked up 62.57 percent, through to 31.71 percent in the Alentejo district of Beja, according to figures for the Directorate of Elections of the Ministry for Internal Affairs.
The former professor, MP and television pundit fell just short of a majority in the capital of Lisbon, on 49.74 percent, whilst breaking that mark in Portugal’s second city of Oporto on 51.28 percent and also picking up majorities in the Azores, with 58.07 percent, and Madeira, on 51.35 percent.
This was well ahead of second-placed candidate, the former dean of the University of Lisbon, António Sampaio da Nóvoa.
Whilst the latter ran Rebelo de Sousa to within a whisker in the district of Beja, polling 31.47 percent of the votes, in Portugal’s two metropolitan areas, Sampaio da Nóvoa was back on 25.83 percent and 21.77 percent, in Lisbon and Oporto
respectively.
In third place, Marisa Matias, backed by the Block of the Left, saw her vote peak in Coimbra on 13.91 percent of the votes and polled 10.05 percent and 10.22 percent in Lisbon and Oporto respectively.
For Matias, the 10 percent share of Sunday’s votes was the best ever by a Block party candidate beating that achieved by former leader Francisco Louçã in 2006.
The presidential election abstention rate came in at 51.2 percent, the second highest ever recorded for this type of election, with 4.7 million voters making the effort out of the total of 9.6 million registered voters.
The highest ever abstention rate was returned last time around on 23 January 2011 when the re-election of Cavaco Silva saw 53.6 percent of voters decide not to cast a ballot.
Sunday’s elections saw blank votes account for 1.24 percent and annulled papers a further 0.92 percent, both down sharply on the last election in 2011 when they registered 4.26 percent and 1.93 percent, respectively.
Following his victory, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa pledged that his presidency would be ‘free and fair’ and in support of ‘effective and successful’ governance.
After an election campaign that had shunned billboards and the traditional rallies and relied on the recognition built up by ten-years as a television pundit, the professor, as he was known in that capacity, kept his comments neutral.
The former Social Democrat leader expressed the intention to “foster national unity,” “encourage politics of convergence” and “nurture a fruitful relationship between the sovereign organs and political, economic, social and cultural actors” in his role as head of state.
“The President of the Republic is the first to wish for the government to govern effectively and with success as this is important to the success of Portugal. Equally, it is essential that the opposition proves active and representative because its contribution ensures scrutiny carried out with the full strength of democracy,” said Rebelo de Sousa.
Congratulations were not slow in arriving from his defeated rivals.
In second place, António Sampaio da Nóvoa said he had already spoken and that “as from today, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is my president and of all Portuguese citizens” before adding that “Portugal needs a great deal of union.”
In turn, Prime Minister António Costa sent a message of congratulations on behalf of the government in an official reaction that precluded any questions.
“In the name of the government, I wish to congratulate Professor Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa as the winner of the presidential elections and express our most sincere wish for the greatest of success in the exercise of the mandate that has today been conferred by the Portuguese,” said Costa before expressing “maximum loyalty and full institutional cooperation.”
Furthermore, the prime minister also regretted the high level of abstention recorded but praised the “fact that, contrary to what has been taking place in other European countries, the Portuguese have clearly rejected populist candidates that present themselves as anti-system.”
Costa said that this revealed “a healthy trust in the democratic framework” before thanking the 59,000 citizens who had participated in running the election “that had gone off without any undue incident.”