Change of power expected

Massive shift to the right in parliamentary elections in Portugal

(Bild: AP )

The parliamentary elections in Portugal on Sunday saw a massive shift to the right. According to official results, the center-right Democratic Alliance (AD) party came in just ahead of the Socialists with 29.5 percent and around 28.7 percent. The far-right Chega party came in with over 18 percent. Previously ruled by the Socialists with an absolute majority, Portugal had been one of the last bulwarks against right-wing extremism in Europe.

The votes cast abroad have yet to be counted and, according to official figures, will take several more days. However, AD lead candidate Luís Montenegro (51), a law graduate, already claimed victory on Monday night.

Ruling party likely to go into opposition
Socialist rival Pedro Nuno Santos conceded defeat and announced that he would go into opposition. After counting almost all the votes, the AD won at least 79 seats, the PS 77.

The formation of a government is likely to be difficult because the AD had ruled out any agreements with the Chega in the run-up to the elections. As in Germany, there is still a "firewall" to the right in Portugal. However, a "grand coalition" of PS and AD is considered out of the question, which is why experts are already expecting new elections in the near future.

More than twice as many votes for Chega
While the Civic Alliance and the Socialists lost votes compared to 2022, the right-wing populists more than doubled their 7.2% share of the vote at the time. The Liberals (IL) and the Left Bloc (BE) came a distant second with 5.1% and 4.5% of the vote respectively, while the Communists came third with 3.3%. The Greens also landed with 3.3 percent.

Andre Ventura, leader of the right-wing populist Chega, was jubilant on election night.(Bild: AP )

New election due to corruption scandal surrounding Prime Minister
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa had called the new election in November after the socialist Prime Minister António Costa resigned due to an alleged corruption scandal and only remained in office in an acting capacity, with Pedro Nuno Santos taking over as the leading candidate.

The real estate crisis, low wages, poor healthcare and corruption, which many voters consider to be typical of the major parties, played a role in the election campaign. Around ten million people were called to vote this time. Polls had already indicated that no party was likely to emerge as the clear winner.