Former CDS-PP leader Paulo Portas has broken with both party and government neutrality to announce he will vote for António José Seguro in the presidential runoff, calling him “a decent politician in a very difficult moment for Portugal”. Portas framed his choice as support for a moderate alternative, rejecting efforts to reduce the race to a simple left-versus-right contest and warning against polarising rhetoric — including what he described as “an imitation of Trump” and a country “divided into tribes”. The endorsement signals a centrist tilt that could sway conservative voters uncomfortable with polarisation and complicate the CDS-PP's official posture ahead of the second round.