By Catarina Demony, Sergio Goncalves, Andrei Khalip
LISBON (Reuters) -Portugal’s centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) won an early parliamentary election on Sunday, but again fell short of the full majority needed to end a long period of political uncertainty, while the centre-left Socialists and far-right Chega were nearly tied for second place.
The election, the third in as many years, was called just one year into the minority government’s term after Prime Minister Luis Montenegro failed to win a parliamentary vote of confidence in March when the opposition questioned his integrity over dealings of his family’s consultancy firm. Montenegro has denied any wrongdoing.
Voters have largely dismissed the opposition’s criticism and apparently punished the main opposition Socialists at the polls for being instrumental in bringing down his minority government.
With nearly all the ballots counted, electoral data showed the AD receiving more than 32% of the vote.
Far-right Chega, on the other hand, outperformed most opinion polls and was at 22.6%, compared to the 18% it obtained in last year’s election. The Socialists won 23.4%, down from 28% last year, a huge blow to one of Portugal’s two main parties.
Montenegro has refused to make any deals with Chega, meaning his government would have to negotiate piecemeal parliamentary support unless it finds another solution.
“We will await the final verdict, but it seems safe to say … the AD had a very strong electoral victory,” said Hugo Soares, the parliamentary bench leader of Montenegro’s Social Democratic Party (PSD), the senior partner in the AD.
Political scientist Adelino Maltez told Reuters that Chega’s results were proof “bipartisanship … is over,” and said that “if democracy is in danger,” Montenegro’s party and the Socialists should come to an agreement to govern in a grand coalition.
The centre-left and centre-right parties formed their only official coalition in 1983-1985.
This election, which was also dominated by issues such as housing and immigration, follows a decade of fragile governments; the only one of which to have a parliamentary majority still collapsed halfway through its term last year.
Chega, an anti-immigration and anti-establishment party founded in 2019 by former football commentator Andre Ventura, became the third-largest parliamentary force in 2022 and quadrupled its seats in 2024.
“We still don’t know if we’ll come in second or third place,” said Pedro Pinto, Chega’s parliamentary bench leader. “What we know is that the system is already shaking.”
Votes from abroad, which still have to be counted in the coming days, could play a role in the final results given how close the Socialists and Chega are in the popular vote. It could be the first time in almost 40 years that the Socialists don’t finish in first or second place.
Chega, whose leader is known for his derogatory remarks against ethnic minorities, has managed to win in some areas of the country where left-wing parties have traditionally received the most votes, including the Beja district in the southern Alentejo region.
‘STABLE SOLUTION’
Outside the polling station where Montenegro voted in the northern city of Espinho, Irene Medeiros, 77, said the “best candidate must win,” but that she feared more uncertainty ahead.
Political scientist Antonio Costa Pinto said it was still unclear whether the AD would form a coalition with the pro-business Liberal Initiative (IL) party, which had around 5.5% of the vote. Such a coalition, however, would still fall short of the 116 seats needed for a majority in the 230-seat parliament.
Shortly after casting his own ballot, Montenegro told reporters he was confident stability could be achieved.
“There is a search for a stable solution, but that will now depend on (people’s) choices,” he said.
Portugal has outperformed most European Union countries on economic growth and run budget surpluses and reduced its debts under both centre-left and centre-right governments.
But further political instability could delay major projects such as lithium mining in the northern part of the country and potentially compromise the long-delayed privatisation of the TAP airline.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony, Sergio Goncalves, Miguel Pereira, Elena Rodriguez and Leonardo Benassatto; Editing by Andrei Khalip, Mark Potter, Helen Popper, Peter Graff, Rod Nickel and Paul Simao)
