Portugal’s election vote could give momentum to Europe’s shift to the right

Publication of: 2024/10/03 – 07:35

2 minutes

Final opinion polls released on Friday showed the center-right Democratic Union (AD) narrowly leading the Socialist Party (PS), but falling short of a majority in parliament, with the far-right Chega party at the center of forming a coalition government. It could be a person.

But analysts warned that the outcome of Portugal’s second election in two years remains uncertain given the large number of undecided voters.

Polling stations in the country of about 10 million people will open at 8 a.m. (8 p.m. Japan time), with exit polls expected at 8 p.m.

AD’s leader, Luis Montenegro, a 51-year-old lawyer, has campaigned on promises to boost economic growth through tax cuts and improve the country’s public services.

“We really have to turn the page,” he told a packed final rally at Lisbon’s bullring on Friday night.

Montenegro has ruled out any post-election agreement with Chega, but the attitude of other AD officials is more ambiguous.

Analysts say an agreement with opposition group Chega, meaning “enough is enough”, could be the only way for AD to govern.

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Chega leader Andre Ventura, a former monk turned harsh-spoken TV football commentator, said his party was “as legitimate as any other”.

Mr Chega is calling for tougher measures to combat corruption, tighter immigration controls and chemical castration of some sex offenders.

Chega won its first seat in Portugal’s five-year-old parliament (230 members) in 2019, giving it the first representation in parliament since a military coup in 1974 overthrew decades of right-wing dictatorship. It became the first far-right party.

It will increase its number of seats to 12 in 2022, and polls suggest it could more than double that number this time.

This reflects the rise of far-right parties across Europe, which are already in power (often in coalitions) in countries such as Italy, Hungary and Slovakia, or are steadily gaining strength in countries such as France and Germany. It will become a thing.

‘Change direction’

The election followed the sudden resignation of Prime Minister Antonio Costa, 62, of the Socialist Party, in November following an influence investigation that included a raid on his official residence and the arrest of his chief of staff.

Costa himself was not charged with any crime, but decided not to run for office again.

Under his watch, unemployment has fallen, the economy grew by 2.3% last year, one of the fastest in the euro zone, and public finances have improved.

But surveys show that many voters do not want Costa’s government to support unreliable public health services, improvements to education, or the housing crisis that has sparked mass street protests in the country, which remains one of Western Europe’s poorest countries. It has been shown that they feel they are wasting the absolute majority they won in 2022 by not addressing this issue.

“We need to change the direction of the country because we can’t continue like this,” Antonio Ferreira, 47, a communications engineer and volunteer firefighter, said Friday at a conference in Lisbon’s upscale Alvalade district. AD told AFP at a street rally.

The Socialist Party’s new leader, Pedro Nuno Santos, a 46-year-old former infrastructure minister, has defended the government’s performance, although he admits it could have done better in some areas.

“The right thinks they can win elections with their usual arrogance and lack of humility. It’s up to the Portuguese people to decide,” he said at his final rally on Friday night.

(AFP)