Portugal: President Rebelo de Sousa is seeking a second term in a tense health context
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on January 19, 2021. AP - Armando Franca
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5 mins
The outgoing president of Portugal, the conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is a candidate for re-election this Sunday.
In this campaign marked in the home stretch by an upsurge in Covid-19 cases and confinement two weeks before the election, participation is a real issue.
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Seeing the president in a bathing suit on the beach or in the queue at a supermarket at a seaside resort in the country are usual images and closeness for the Portuguese.
It is also one of the keys to the success of Mario Rebelo de Sousa.
A former law professor, this former journalist led a long essential Sunday political program.
Marcel, as the Portuguese call him, likes to linger for a conversation or photos with everyone.
More particularly the most fragile, such as the homeless or the sick.
This son of a minister, a man of power, an affirmed Catholic, aims this Sunday to beat the record for the best re-elected president, that
of the socialist Mario Soares
with more than 70% of the votes in 1991.
Another result that will be very scrutinized, that of André Ventura.
At 37, this deputy heads a very recent right-wing populist party.
In this country that emerged from dictatorship in 1974, he could well confirm his breakthrough after entering Parliament during the legislative elections last year.
Among the other candidates, we also find the socialist Ana Gomes, critic of
Prime Minister Antonio Costa
.
At 66, this career diplomat and former MEP has become a prominent anti-corruption activist but is not supported by her party, which officially does not present a candidate.
The fear of a record abstention due to Covid-19
However, this election will take place in a very particular context since Portugal has reached new records for Covid-19 contamination in recent days and the epidemic has brought the Portuguese economy to its knees.
The Portuguese have been subjected for ten days to
a second general confinement
.
A health context that raises concerns about record abstention, which could be around 70%.
Yes I am afraid.
We cannot verify where the virus is.
And even if we protect ourselves, the risk is there.
It is better to be wary but this is not a reason to stop living and especially not to exercise my right and duty to vote.
Faced with Covid-19, the Portuguese hesitate to go to the polls
While the country had contained the first wave of the pandemic relatively well, that did not prevent its economy from being seriously shaken, with a recession that swept 10 years of efforts to straighten public accounts, according to some economists.
The immediate consequence of the pandemic is a 9.3% decline in gross domestic product, the service sector being the most seriously affected.
In Europe, the Portuguese economy is one of the hardest hit.
This can be explained by its model, with a considerable weight of tourism which represents nearly 17% of gross domestic product.
To keep up, several Portuguese companies have recourse to state aid, such as short-time working, guaranteed loans and cash aid, but the room for maneuver is limited.
Aid which maintains the reprieve.
If they are lifted, Portuguese economists fear a wave of bankruptcies and layoffs.
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