Government coalition AD in Portugal The largest, neck-and-neck race between Social Democrats and radical-right

In the national elections in Portugal, the center -right Aliança Democrática (AD) has again become the largest party. Prime Minister Luís Montenegro’s party won nearly 33 percent of the votes and thus grew something compared to the previous elections In March 2024, when she achieved around 30 percent.

The Social Democratic Partido Socialista (PS) of Pedro Nuno Santos finished second in the elections with around 23.5 percent of the votes. The party thus submits around 6 percentage points compared to its last result.

The radical-right Chega party now rose from 18 to almost 23 percent. A significant increase, because in 2022 the party only won 7.38 percent of the votes.

‘Broken with the old political model’

Although the voices have not all been counted, the radical-right party Chega is already taking the Portuguese parliamentary elections to announce that the era of the traditional two-party politics is over.

« Whether we finish second or third, it is clear that the system is staggering, » said Chega MP Pedro Pinto. « Chega has finally broken with the old political model and is the alternative to the future of Portugal. »

The rise of Chega is striking. The extreme right -wing party has succeeded in undermining the idea that Portugal would be immune to extreme right -wing politics – because of his authoritarian past. The party owes its growth in part to dissatisfaction among the population about the established political parties. The ongoing home crisis, low wages and pressure on health care and education cause growing frustration.

Chega leader André Ventura is convenient in that sentiment. In the country there were major election banners with texts such as’ they had the chance for fifty years. Please give us a chance now ‘and’Portugal Precisa de Uma Limpeza‘ – Portugal needs a cleaning – running out to the established order.

Become unwell

The campaign also had restless moments. Ventura became unwell twice during public performances – presumably due to exhaustion and stress. In both cases he had to interrupt his speech and was helped by medical staff. His team trivialized the incidents, but they called for many questions about the physical toll of the campaign on the party leader. But he doesn’t seem to be punished by the voter for that.

Yet the chance that Chega can rule along seems small. The leader of the center -right coalition AD, Luís Montenegro, has been excluded with Chega several times. According to him, the party is not reliable, inconsistent in its views and not suitable for bearing responsibility in a government. The smaller liberal party iniciativa Liberal, which could possibly add a few seats to Montenegro’s side, refuses every collaboration with Chega.

In addition, Chega has become negative in recent months. Multiple party members have become involved in scandals, including theft, driving under the influence and even accusations of sexual abuse of a minor. Nevertheless, Ventura continues to stick to his hard rhetoric. In his last speeches for the elections, he said that Chega is « the only true opposition party » and « represents the future of Portugal ».

Despite all the controversies, it is clear that Chega has nestled firmly in the Portuguese political landscape.

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