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Candidate for the Portuguese Presidency, Cavaco Silva, celebrates after winning the elections. Photo by EPA/BGNES
As expected, Portugal's conservative President Anibal Cavaco Silva has been elected to a second term in office.
With 98% of the votes counted Monday, the official results show Silva had won 53% of the votes, with his top rival, Manuel Alegre, coming a distant second with 20%.
Presidential elections were held on the backdrop of a growing debt crisis in Portugal.
Silva supports the austerity plan put forward by the Socialist government, aiming at reducing the country's deficit and avoiding a Greece and Ireland bailout scenario.
Portugal's president is a mainly ceremonial figure but has one key power: to dissolve parliament without having to justify the decision.
The government of Socialist Prime Minister Jose Socrates is next due to face an election in 2013.
Voter turnout Sunday fell to a record low of about 50% with opposition parties insisting hundred or even thousands of people were not able to cast their vote over wide-spread problems with the new electronic citizen's card that has replaced the old voter registration card and other forms of identification.
71-year-old Cavaco Silva is an economist and a former center-right Social Democrat Prime Minister from 1985-1995. His closest rival, 74-year-old prominent poet Manuel Alegre, is from the ruling Socialists.
Alegre accuses Silva of blackmailing voters and undermining democracy.
The Central Election Commission (CEC) in Bulgaria has confirmed that a total of 6,575,151 citizens are eligible to vote in the upcoming elections on April 19
Authorities in Bulgaria report a significant escalation in efforts to combat election-related violations, with 183 individuals detained in connection with crimes against electoral rights
The Bulgarian community in the United Kingdom is preparing for participation in the upcoming general election, with no major disruptions expected on voting day despite concerns linked to the reduced number of polling stations.
Interior Minister Emil Dechev has reported a sharp rise in signals related to alleged election crimes compared to the parliamentary vote held in October 2024
Interim Interior Minister Emil Dechev said that the rising number of detected election-related crimes is linked to a growing willingness among citizens to report suspected violations
Bulgarian authorities carried out a targeted operation in Burgas to combat election-related crimes, resulting in six people being detained. Three of the cases led to pre-trial proceedings, while the other three were documented in official files.
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