Portugal picks center-right president for center-left govt

Lisbon: A center-right candidate has recorded an emphatic victory in Portugal's Presidential Election, collecting more than half of the vote against nine rivals as voters picked a counterweight to Portugal's center-left Socialist government.

With 98 percent of the votes counted, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, a veteran politician and law professor, won 52.4 percent yesterday to capture the mostly ceremonial post.

His nearest rival had less than half of that and his opponents conceded quickly. Rebelo de Sousa will move into the head of state's riverside pink palace in Lisbon in March, replacing Anibal Cavaco Silva, who has served the maximum of two five-year terms.