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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 31.2% 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.
