1. Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva entering room among crowd to give victory speech at CCB (Centro Cultural de Belem) UPSOUND: crowd chanting and clapping 2. Pan from media to wide of room 3. SOUNDBITE: (Portuguese) Anibal Cavaco Silva, Portuguese President: "The Portuguese have spoken and clearly said who they wanted for President of the Republic." 4. Cutaway of camera screen 5. SOUNDBITE: (Portuguese) Anbial Cavaco Silva, Portuguese President: "It is a great and very demanding task that lies ahead. I will exercise an actuating mandate as Portugal is going through great difficulties, to find a course for the future, that will renew the hope of our people." 6. Cutaway of media 7. SOUNDBITE: (Portuguese) Anbial Cavaco Silva, Portuguese President: "To all of you who showed the courage for hope, my deepest thanks. Long live Portugal." 8. Cavaco Silva leaving room surrounded by media 9. Various of crowd cheering and waving banners 10. Cavaco Silva waving to crowd from balcony at CCB 11. Various of crowd cheering STORYLINE Portugal elected its conservative president to a second term in a landslide on Sunday, delivering a harsh political setback to the minority Socialist government which is struggling to contain an acute economic crisis. Anibal Cavaco Silva, who is supported by the main opposition Social Democratic Party, collected 53 percent of the vote compared with 20 percent for second-placed Socialist Party candidate Manuel Alegre, official figures showed with more than 99 percent of districts returning. Four other candidates picked up the remaining votes. The government risked a backlash by enacting deeply unpopular austerity measures amid fears that the financial crisis spells economic disaster for Portugal. The president possesses the power - known as his "atomic bomb" - to call a general election if he feels the government is on the wrong path. The emphatic win for Cavaco Silva added to political pressure on the embattled centre-left government as Prime Minister Jose Socrates scrambles to restore international confidence in Portugal's ailing economy. Portugal's political and economic fortunes are important for the rest of Europe because its government's collapse would add fresh momentum to the continent's debt crisis. Many analysts predict Portugal's economic woes will sooner or later force it to accept a bailout like the ones provided to Greece and Ireland last year. The government doesn't face a general election until 2013. Though the president can dissolve parliament and call an early election, such an extreme measure is uncommon. A key role of the head of state, which Cavaco Silva has said he will respect, is to ensure political stability, though presidents serving their second - and, by law, final - term are usually more outspoken. Portugal is "going through great difficulties," Cavaco Silva said, adding that he would seek to keep the country on an even keel, without surrendering any of his authority. He promised to be truthful about the true circumstances of the country. Socrates pledged cooperation with the re-elected president to ensure political stability and rejected any link between the ballot result and his government's record as "misguided." The government has insisted it doesn't need a bailout. Instead, it has cut public sector pay and welfare entitlements and hiked taxes to reduce a huge debt load that threatens to wreck the economy. The austerity measures prompted dozens of strikes last year, including a 24-hour general strike that shut down many public services. Public transport and mail services are due to be hit again in strikes next month. Unemployment has surged to more than 10 percent over the past year. You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/874be20804748fc78c73c933bebcb24d Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork

• published: 30 Jul 2015
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