Portugal’s President tests positive for Coronavirus just before election

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the President of Portugal has tested positive for Coronavirus as confirmed in a statement shared on the official website of the Portuguese Presidency on Monday night.

The 72-year-old who took office in 2016 and is seeking a second term in the country’s presidential election on January 24, is reportedly asymptomatic. The president is self-isolating in a residential area in Belem, in the west of central Lisbon and has suspended all his agenda for coming days

The president is largely a figurehead in Portugal, where the prime minister and his cabinet are in charge of day-to-day affairs. He wields large influence nevertheless, and he holds the authority to appoint the prime minister and dissolve parliament.