A 67-year-old law professor and TV pundit, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, on Sunday won the Portuguese presidency, according to election results from 97 percent of constituencies.

Rebelo de Sousa secured the largely ceremonial post with 52.78 percent of the vote, far ahead of his closest rival independent leftist Antonio Sampaio da Novoa who won 22.17 percent of ballots. Fifty percent was required to avoid a runoff poll.