Lisbon, Feb. 9, 2026 (Lusa) - Monday's editorials in the mainstream newspapers highlight António José Seguro's victory in Sunday's presidential elections, emphasising that the Portuguese people chose moderation over extremism and discrimination.
Seguro's record victory, he obtained the highest number of votes ever for a presidential candidate, is also a "resounding defeat for André Ventura", as the majority of voters said they want "a vigilant but moderate president", and a warning to the PSD, which now has less room for manoeuvre, writes JN.
In its editorial, the newspaper says that most Portuguese voters chose someone who represents "all citizens and protects their common ground, without walls or discrimination".
"And [the people] also said that it is in this democratic regime, born of 25 April, that they see themselves," adds JN, emphasising the rejection of "a divisive political figure who advocates regime change and who stated from the outset that he would not be president of all the Portuguese people".
Correio da Manhã writes that the victory of the president-elect "of all, all, all", as Seguro said, quoting Pope Francis, was not only "that of a normal man", but of someone who proclaimed the values "on which democracy is based", showing that a path must be followed in the fight for decency and unity" and "against extremism and polarisation".
The choice of Seguro, who "promises predictability and moderation, and a relaxed institutional environment", as Diário de Notícias writes, has given the government three years to implement its programme "without the spectre of political crises" and a lifeline to the PS, which can now refocus "without paying significant internal costs" and bet on moderation.
"If Montenegro fails, there is a risk that the next elections will replicate the election results: a moderate PS vying for the centre and the radical right vying for the rest of the space," says the DN editorial, noting that, on the other hand, every move by the PSD towards the centre is "immediately exploited by Chega as a sign of weakness or concession".
The PSD was thus left with less room for manoeuvre in a new political cycle that "could be decisive", it said.
Público, also in an editorial, similarly highlighted "the victory of moderation at a time when politics is marked by division" and that Seguro won the votes of a "strange but natural" coalition.
"From the PCP to the CDS, the majority of Portuguese people rallied around a candidate who promises to uphold and defend the Constitution and who presented a programme of dialogue and stability," the newspaper said.
It also points out that the leader of Chega managed to increase his vote, but that, for someone who set out with the idea of leading the right and "benefited from the absence of votes from parties in that political space", he ended up "falling short of his goal".
However, it highlights that Ventura continues to rise (he increased his vote count compared to Chega's in the legislative elections) and that democracy should "look very carefully" at the wounds it suffered in the presidential elections.
He leaves a message of hope, however, emphasising that the levels of abstention, similar to those in the first round, "showed how the Portuguese are still able to react to the storm that threatens democracy".
SO/ADB // ADB.
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