The center-right opposition of Portugal won this Sunday by a narrow margin Parliamentary election, in which the extreme right would have doubled his results marking a turn to the right of the country after eight years of socialist government, according to polls.
Three months before the European elections, these early elections confirm that the extreme right is on the rise throughout the continent, as already seen in Italy and the Netherlands.
Portugal, where 10.8 million voters were called to the pollswas one of the few countries in Europe led by the left when in November the outgoing prime minister, Antonio Costa resigned after being summoned in an investigation for influence peddling.
Portugal turns to the right: the opposition won the legislative elections
According to an exit poll by public television RTP, The center-right Democratic Alliance (AD), led by Luis Montenegro, 51, would have won the elections with between 29 and 33% of the votes. The results indicate, however, that it will not be able to form a majority on its own.
During the campaign, Montenegro ruled out forming a government with the support of the extreme right. The politician hoped instead to rely on the small Liberal Initiative party, but The formation would have obtained between 5 and 7% of the votes, according to the same poll.
With these results, both parties would not reach the threshold of the 116 deputies needed to have the absolute majority. Parliament has 230 seats.
The Socialist Party (PS), which obtained the absolute majority in the last legislative elections in January 2022 with 41.4% of the votes, would come in second position this time with between 25 and 29% of the votes.
After Costa’s departure, the PS rallied around Pedro Nuno Santos, a 46-year-old former minister on the party’s left wing.
The extreme right grows in Portugal
On the side of the victors, The far-right party Chega (Basta) would emerge stronger from the scrutiny and would have obtained between 14 and 17% of the votes, against 7.2% two years ago.
The result maintains it as the third political force in the country and confirms the pre-election polls for this anti-system party.
Chega was created in 2019 by André Ventura, a 41-year-old law professor, former soccer commentator and known for his xenophobic attacks against gypsy minority.
It is an “absolutely historic result,” Ventura celebrated. after the exit polls. The politician said that he was “available” to offer “a stable government to Portugal” within “a solid right-wing majority.”
The rise of the far right in the country comes as Portugal commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution next month.which put an end to the fascist dictatorship and 13 years of colonial wars.
In addition to the suspicions of corruption that led to the resignation of Antonio CostaDuring the campaign, Ventura warned of the increase in immigration in the country. The foreign population in Portugal has doubled in the last five years.
The abstention rate, estimated between 32% and 38% According to the RTP survey, it would be the lowest since 2005.
The balance sheet of the current socialist government has been clouded by inflation, despite the consolidation of public finances, growth above the European average and the low level of unemployment.
Portugal It has also suffered problems in health services and schools, as well as a major real estate crisis.
Added to this are a series of corruption scandals, that ended up causing the fall Antonio Costa, and the increase in the migrant population, which has doubled in five years, two of the electoral issues of the extreme right.
Source: Ambito
