Far-right surges as election reinforces government’s power // Economy suffers worst fall since pandemic

Portuguese news in English on Monday, May 19.

Far-right surges as election reinforces government’s power

The governing Democratic Alliance (AD, made up of the Social Democratic Party and CDS – People's Party) coalition has reinforced its parliamentary power at the great expense of the Socialist Party (PS), which was left scrapping for second with far-right Chega. AD still fell short of being able to form a majority government but it was a clear turn to the right across the board as the Liberal Initiative (IL) improved its representation slightly and parties to the left of PS mostly shrank. According to Público figures, AD finished the country’s third election in three years with 32.1% of the national vote, electing 86 MPs, an increase of six from last year. PS (23.4%) and Chega (22.6%) finished the night tied with 58 parliamentary representatives each, a loss of 20 MPs for PS and a nine-member boost for Chega. Livre was the one bright spot on the left with an increase from four to six MPs, while the CDU alliance that includes the Communist Party lost one seat and the Left Bloc finished the night with only its leader maintaining her seat, losing four others.

‘Let Luís work’: PM hails victory

Prime Minister-elect Luís Montenegro has used his victory speech to call for his political rivals to “let Luís work” in an appeal for stability, Público reports. The phrase was a common slogan on the campaign trail for the centre-right party. He said the results showed the Portuguese people didn’t want early elections but instead a government that would serve a four-year term. He called for his “opposition” to respect the will of the people, honouring their promises but adapting them to national circumstances. “The people want this government and not another”, he said, and “this prime minister and not another”. Montenegro promised to stimulate investment, fight poverty and value public servants, while bringing in more immigration regulation and reinforcing safety.

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‘Disaster of historic proportions’ for PS

Pedro Nuno Santos has quit as leader of the Socialist Party, acknowledging “hard and difficult times for the left, Público reports. He urged the centre-left party not to support the re-elected AD government’s program in parliament and hit out at the far-right for being “more violent, more aggressive and more lying”. Some other Socialist figures were also assessing the scale of their defeat last night, as summarised by Expresso. Sérgio Sousa Pinto told CNN Portugal it was a “disaster of historic proportions for PS, which will require quick decisions to be made”. The deputy, who opted not to run in this election, said it was hard to imagine a worse result and that the future of the party was at stake. “PS has to understand: Finish this direction or this direction will finish the party,” he said. Former parliamentarian António Vitorino said Chega was the biggest winner of the night, describing the result — a breaking of the traditional dominance of PSD and PS — as a structural change of the political system. PS former health minister Duarte Cordeiro said it was “deeply disturbing that PS had to wait until the end of the night to see if it finished ahead of Chega and would force Pedro Nuno Santos to carry out a “personal reflection” on whether he could continue as leader.

Far-right leader welcomes election results

Chega leader André Ventura hailed the result as the end of the two-party system in Portugal, Público reports. Responding to Santos’ comments about aggressiveness, he said “they haven’t seen anything yet”. He said his party would “show the elites” it couldn’t be torn down even after being “persecuted” throughout the campaign. The last week of the campaign was marked by Ventura being hospitalised after collapsing in the middle of a party rally. He was hospitalised and released again on Thursday after feeling unwell at another campaign event and took the last day of the campaign off, Lusa reports. He said the first incident was down to an esophageal spasm and that he was feeling better.

Billboards for André Ventura (left) and Pedro Nuno Santos. Photo: Jorge Branco.

What happens next?

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will now meet with the parties and nominate the prime minister taking into account the electoral results, Expresso reports. Based on comments made before the election, the president was preparing for a long post-electoral process, allowing negotiations to happen before nominating the government. A source said Marcelo wanted to be certain the government wouldn’t be rejected immediately and would have the ability to get its program off the ground. There are still votes to be counted for four seats representing Portuguese emigrants — two in Europe and two outside of Europe.

Presidential frontrunner confirms election run

Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Melo, who is widely considered to be the frontrunner to replace Marcelo as president, chose this past week to confirm his candidature, Expresso reports. A source in his team told the newspaper he didn’t expect the negative reactions or noise his comments during the final week of the legislative election campaign would cause. They said he regretted saying his “badly kept secret” would be revealed on May 29, calling it a “miscalculation”.