Free Republic

LISBON (Reuters) - Anibal Cavaco Silva, a center-right candidate, won Portugal's presidential election on Sunday in a blow to the ruling Socialist Party already under pressure because of a stagnant economy. Cavaco Silva, a former prime minister vowing to tackle economic woes in western Europe's poorest country, had 50.59 percent of the vote with all but a handful of polling stations reporting, the election commission reported. Leftist maverick Manuel Alegre had 20.72 percent of the vote and 81-year-old Mario Soares, the Socialists' candidate, had 14.34 percent. "I want to be and will be the president of all the Portuguese," Cavaco...

LISBON (AFP) - Portugal wrapped up campaigning ahead of a weekend presidential election which is expected to select a right-of-centre leader for the first time since democracy was restored in 1974. Economics professor Anibal Cavaco Silva, who oversaw a period of economic growth as a centre-right prime minister between 1985 and 1995, has between 52 and 53 percent support, four polls published Friday showed. The 66-year-old candidate, backed by the Social Democrats and the smaller Popular Party, needs to get more than 50 percent of the vote on Sunday to avoid a runoff election between the top two contenders on...