In the aftermath of the recent legislative elections in Portugal, the new parliament faced a tough task in electing its president on Tuesday. The close results of the March 10 polls left the assembly with a complicated configuration, making it difficult to achieve an absolute majority for any candidate.
In the final vote of the day, neither conservative candidate José Pedro Aguiar-Branco nor socialist candidate Francisco Assis were able to secure the 116 votes required to be elected president. With Aguiar-Branco receiving 88 votes and Assis receiving 90 votes, Antonio Filipe, the temporary president of the Assembly of the Republic, announced that the session would be postponed until Wednesday for another attempt.
Despite the delays and uncertainty surrounding the election, Filipe lightened things up by joking that he wouldn’t be spending his night at the official residence until tomorrow. The day’s proceedings began at 10:00 a.m., and concluded after midnight with breaks in between as parliamentarians searched for their leader.
The outcome of the legislative elections had left a tight result, with Chega playing a key role in potential governing coalitions. Chega had obtained 50 seats while far-right parties won just one seat each in this election cycle. The leader of Democratic Alliance emphasized that he had no intention of forming an agreement with extreme right parties.
As tensions rose within parliament, various parties scrambled to form alliances and chart their paths for this legislative term. The challenges faced in electing a president highlighted how complex and uncertain Portugal’s political landscape was as parties battled for power and influence.
