Portugal's presidential candidates began their campaigns on Sunday, officially opening the race two weeks ahead of the scheduled Jan. 22 vote.

Among the six campaigners are the center-right Anibal Cavaco Silva and five left-wingers including 81-year-old Mario Soares, who has the backing of the ruling Socialist Party he founded.

Both Cavaco Silva and Soares are well known among Portugal's nearly 9 million registered voters, with Cavaco Silva as former two-time prime minister and Soares also former prime minister and already twice president.

A poll published on Saturday in the Publico newspaper gave Cavaco Silva a convincing lead, with 60 percent of the respondents saying they would vote for him. The poll was conducted on Jan. 3 and 4 and the margin of error was 3.4 percent.

Ranking second in the survey was Socialist lawmaker Manuel Alegre, who gained 16 percent of support, running as an independent.

The survey gave Soares 13 percent. Communist Party leader Jeronimo de Sousa came fourth with 7 percent.

The other two candidates are Franciso Louca, who gained 4 percent in the survey as leader of the small Left Bloc party; and Antonio Garcia Pereira, a lawyer, who had 1 percent as head of the tiny Portuguese Workers Communist Party/Proletarian Portuguese Revolutionary Movement.

The winner will succeed Socialist President Jorge Sampaio as the country's 19th leader since 1910.

Source: Xinhua