In Portugal’s general election on Sunday, the center-right Democratic Alliance ( AD), which was currently in power, won the most seats but again fell short of a ruling parliamentary majority, while far-right Chega party support increased, nearly complete official results revealed. Only four seats in Portugal’s 230-seat legislature are still open for assignment. The AD received only 32.7 % of the vote, which is below the 42 % required for a majority-righteous majority. The far-right Chega received 22.6 % of the vote, while the Socialist Party received a 23.4 %. In the most recent election in 2024, the AD won 29 % of the ballot, but the majority government fell this year. Acting prime minister and Advertising head Luis Montenegro has ruled out forming a partnership state with Chega. The Liberal Initiative ( IL ) initiative, which supported business, was expected to take between 4 % and 8 %. In order to occupy at least 116 of Portugal’s 230-seat legislature, the Advertisement will probably have to build alliances with smaller parties. Hope that this most recent election will bring balance to Portugal, which is experiencing the worst political unrest in years, would be dented by a subsequent minority government in a row.
Confidence voting failure led to the collapse of state
Portugal’s vote is its second in three decades. After Montenegro failed to win a vote of confidence in congress in March, the center-right majority government’s expression was adjourned for Sunday’s poll. Montenegro suggested the confidence vote when the opposition questioned his honesty regarding the relations of his mother’s consulting company. Montenegro has denied any wrongdoing, and the majority of polls showed that voters were not happy with the opponent’s censure.
Challenge from the extreme right
Montenegro’s far-right Chega group, which it opposes, plans to overtake the 18 % of the vote it had anticipated to receive in the poll. Exit polls show that the organization’s leaders ‘ last-minute health issues, such as Andre Ventura’s, have not had an impact on their effects. He made a surprise appearance at his party’s last occasion on Friday after going through an gastrointestinal contraction half in the previous year and hospital care twice in the previous year. Chega increased its seats in parliament from 12 to 50 in the most recent election because of its high level of support for a more restrictive immigration scheme.
Long-term social unrest in Portugal
Issues like accommodation and immigration have dominated this year’s poll. The vote comes after a decade of fragile governments, just one of which had a majority in the legislature and was still in place by the time it expired. Portugal has seen a steep fall in multiculturalism. In 2018, the country had less than 500,000 legal immigrants, according to government data. More than 1.5 million people were working in agriculture and commerce by the beginning of this year, many of whom were Brazilians and Asians. The incoming government announced two days prior to the election that it would expelect some 18, 000 immigrants who live in the nation without their permission, and thousands more are undocumented. Similar to the housing problems, home prices and rents have increased for the past ten years as a result of an influx of white-collar foreigners, which has increased prices. According to the National Statistics Institute, a government agency, house prices increased by 9 % last year. Prices in and around the capital Lisbon, where 1.5 million people reside, increased by more than 7 % next year, according to the university, marking the steepest increase in 30 years. Portugal being one of Western Europe’s poorest nations adds to the issue. According to the statistics agency, the average monthly salary for the year was roughly €1,200 ($ 1, 340 ) before taxes. This year, the government’s minimum wage is$ 770 ($ 974 ) before taxes.
