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According to media forecasts, Portugal has moved far to the right in the early parliamentary elections. According to a voter survey deemed reliable by the state television channel RTP, the conservative Democratic Alliance (AD) led by top candidate Luís Montenegro won the vote on Sunday by 29 to 33 percent. Pedro Nuno Santos’ Socialist Party (PS), which has been in power since late 2015, came only second with 25 to 29 percent.
However, it was not AD that was primarily responsible for the shift to the right, but rather the populist party Chega, which was only founded in 2019 and, according to RTP, has grown considerably: according to the channel’s research from one in the last elections in early 2022 more than seven percent, now 14 to 17 percent. As all opinion research institutes predict, this means that one of the last strongholds against right-wing extremism in Europe will fall.
A grand coalition is considered impossible
Other Portuguese media published similar figures to RTP in the evening, shortly after the last polling stations in the Azores closed at 9pm CET. In the last elections in January 2022, the PS won with more than 41 percent and achieved an absolute majority with 120 of the 230 seats in the Lisbon “Assembleia da República”.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa called the vote in November after Socialist Prime Minister António Costa resigned following a corruption scandal and remained in office only as acting president.
A ‘grand coalition’ between PS and AD is considered impossible. Montenegro will therefore probably have to rely on agreements with smaller parties. The 51-year-old trained lawyer will mainly have to rely on the Liberal Initiative (IL), which can charge up to seven percent. However, both parties are still far from having a majority capable of governing. In view of the looming difficulties in forming a government, observers predicted new elections in the summer before the vote.
Firewall on the right
The main reason: Montenegro does not want to negotiate with the Chega party of former TV sports commentator André Ventura, who is becoming the unpopular kingmaker. In Portugal – similar to the AfD in Germany – there is still a so-called firewall on the right.
At home and abroad, the socialists’ earlier success was celebrated as the “Portuguese miracle”. After the euro debt crisis, Costa led the former EU problem child very solidly for years. Spending discipline but also social responsibility characterized his work. Over the years, the economy has almost always grown above the EU average, and unemployment and debt have steadily declined.
Issues such as housing shortages and inflation had an influence
Several corruption scandals, including at state airline TAP, put an end to the success story. At its peak, Costa faced allegations of corruption in lithium and hydrogen projects in November. According to the current state of the investigation, the 62-year-old has not been personally guilty of anything.
The elections were also marked by social and economic problems such as housing shortages and inflation, which hit the low-wage country particularly hard – and which, according to observers, also provide a breeding ground for the shift to the right. Since the end of the pandemic, Portugal has been overwhelmed by an increasing wave of strikes, with doctors, teachers, police officers and many others protesting more and more loudly. (SDA)
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
