Far-right
Chega party becomes main opposition in Portugal’s parliament
Party takes
second place in election after overseas votes counted, overturning decades of
bipartisan politics
Sam Jones in
Madrid
Wed 28 May
2025 23.08 BST
The
far-right Chega party has overturned decades of bipartisan politics in Portugal
by squeaking into second place in the country’s third snap election in three
years, edging out the socialists to become the biggest opposition party in
parliament.
The
centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD), led by the prime minister, Luís
Montenegro, finished first in the election 10 days ago, but once again fell
well short of a majority, taking 31.8% of the vote and winning 91 seats in
Portugal’s 230-seat assembly. But the race for second place was a closely
fought contest between the Socialist party (PS) and Chega.
With 99% of
the votes counted on election night itself, the provisional results had the PS
and Chega tied on 58 seats each, although the socialists had a slightly larger
share of the vote.
But when the
overseas votes were counted and added to the national tally on Wednesday, Chega
reached a final total of 60 seats and won 22.76% of the vote, while the PS
stayed at 58 seats but maintained its marginally higher share of the vote
(22.83%).
The
far-right party, which was founded in 2019 by the former football pundit André
Ventura, has capitalised on widespread dissatisfaction with Portugal’s
mainstream left and right parties as the country continues to suffer a housing
crisis, stressed health and education systems, and an average monthly wage of
€1,602 (£1,346). It has seen a dramatic rise in support over the past few
years, winning 1.3% of the vote in 2019, 7.2% in 2022, and 18.1% last year,
when its seat count shot up from 12 to 50.
Ventura
thanked his supporters as the final results came on Wednesday evening, saying
his party’s historic performance represented a win for the entire country and
showed that its political system had “changed forever today”.
“What a
great victory!!! Thank you to all the Portuguese who trusted us!” he wrote on
X. “This historic victory is also yours, it is Portugal’s!”.
The PS’s
dire performance – down 20 seats on last year’s result – had already led its
leader, Pedro Nuno Santos, to announce his resignation hours after the polls
closed.
Carlos
César, the president of the PS, accepted his party’s relegation to third place
a few hours before Wednesday’s final results were published, saying the writing
had been on the wall for his party since election night.
“We will
have time, later, to reflect and to correct our paths and to once again deserve
the increased trust of the Portuguese people,” he said, adding that once a new
leader was chosen at the end of June, the party would have to prove that it was
“an instrument of participation and innovation”.
Chega’s
delight at eclipsing the PS will be tempered by the knowledge that it is no
closer to government because of Montenegro’s enduring refusal to strike any
deals with the party.
“Governing
with Chega is impossible for three reasons,” Montenegro has previously said.
“It isn’t reliable in its thinking; it behaves like a political weathervane,
always changing its mind, and it’s not suited to the exercise of government.”
The small
Liberal Initiative party – which could throw its weight behind Montenegro,
bringing the AD nine extra seats – has also categorically refused to do
anything that would help Chega into power.
If invited
to form a new government by the president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa,
Montenegro’s minority government will face another fragmented and awkward
legislature.
The early
election was triggered in March after the prime minister used a confidence vote
in his government to try to head off growing scrutiny relating to a data
protection consultancy that he founded in 2021 and which he transferred to his
wife and sons the following year.
Faced with
questions over possible conflicts of interest, the prime minister – who has
denied any wrongdoing or ethical breaches – said he hoped the vote would “end
the atmosphere of permanent insinuations and intrigues”. But he failed to win
the confidence of MPs and a fresh election was called.
The
electoral campaign had focused on issues such as housing, public services and
safety. Immigration – one of Chega’s priorities – has also risen up the agenda,
and Montenegro’s caretaker government was recently accused of pandering to the
far right after it announced the expulsion of 18,000 irregular migrants earlier
this month.
Chega’s vows
to clean up politics – and its hardline stance on immigration and people
abusing the benefits system – have recently been undermined by the kind of
corruption and sleaze scandals it has been railing against.
In January,
Ventura’s party expelled one of its MPs after he was accused of stealing
suitcases at several airports. Another member of the party was caught
drunk-driving the same month, while a third has been charged with paying for
oral sex with an underage male who was 15 at the time.
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