Portugal far-right party becomes second biggest in parliament
LISBON: Portugal's far-right Chega party won second place in snap elections last week, according to final results published Wednesday, making it the official opposition party in the country just six years after its creation.
Chega, which means 'Enough', and the left-wing Socialist Party (PS) had been level on 58 seats after the provisional results from the May 18 poll.
But the far-right party won two of the previously unannounced four overseas constituencies, taking its tally to 60.
The centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) claimed the other two overseas seats taking its total to 91, still far from the 116 seats needed to form a majority government. The Social Democratic Party of outgoing prime minister Luis Montenegro is the main party of the alliance.
'It is a big victory,' said Chega founder and leader Andre Ventura, claiming that it 'marks a profound change in the Portuguese political system'.
Montenegro is expected to try to form a minority government after the latest election and he has said he will not deal with Chega. But Ventura called on Montenegro to 'break' with the Socialists.
'Portugal is moving in line with the European trend' for a 'protest vote' and 'anti-establishment sentiment', said Paula Espirito Santo at Lisbon University's Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences.
'Divine mission'
Support for Chega has grown in every general election since the party was founded in 2019 by Ventura, a former trainee priest who later became a television football commentator.
It won 1.3 percent of the vote in a general election the year it was founded, giving it a seat in parliament -- the first time a far-right party had won representation in Portugal's legislature since a coup in 1974 toppled a decades-long rightist dictatorship.
Chega became the third-largest force in parliament in the next general election in 2022 and quadrupled its parliamentary seats last year to 50, cementing its place in Portugal's political landscape and mirroring gains by similar parties across Europe.
Chega's policies include chemical castration for paedophiles, limiting newcomers' access to welfare benefits, and stricter controls on migration which it links to crime and higher pensions.
Ventura attended US President Donald Trump's inauguration in January, and has embraced the support of Brazil's former far-right president Jair Bolsonaro.
He speaks of restoring respect for the police, and has protested on the streets with Movement Zero, a group of disgruntled police officers with suspected extremist ties who are demanding better pay and conditions.
'In politics, you have to be different. And I wanted to be different,' Ventura once said of himself, before adding that his path had been guided by a 'divine mission'.
'Fundamental shift'
When preliminary election results came in last week, Ventura said he was confident his party would eventually finish ahead of the PS.
'Nothing will ever be the same again,' Ventura told his supporters, who chanted 'Portugal is ours and it always will be'.
'This is indeed a fundamental shift,' said analyst Espirito Santo.
'We cannot say that Chega will lose ground in the coming years... It looks as though Chega is here to stay for a while.'
Many voters 'certainly support the radical and anti-establishment solutions that Chega proposes' but others may have chosen the party 'because of the erosion of the traditional parties' ability to meet expectations', she said.
The future of the Socialist Party meanwhile remains 'unpredictable', Espirito Santo said.
Party leader Pedro Nuno Santos, a 48-year-old economist, said he would stand down after the initial election results were announced.
Under a previous PS government, Portugal became one of Europe's most open countries for immigrants. Between 2017 and 2024, the number of foreigners living in Portugal quadrupled, reaching about 15 percent of the total population.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is to hold new talks with the leaders of the three main parties on Thursday and could name a new prime minister during the day.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
8 hours ago
- The Star
Neo-Nazis attack actors in Lisbon, marring Portugal Day celebrations
LISBON (Reuters) -A group of neo-Nazis attacked several actors outside a Lisbon theatre late on Tuesday, forcing it to cancel a show about Portugal's national poet Luis de Camoes to mark Portugal Day, which commemorates the literary icon. The European Union has said hate speech is on the rise in Portugal, and the far-right is gaining support after anti-immigration party Chega became the main opposition in parliament in last month's election. Culture Minister Margarida Balseiro Lopes condemned on Wednesday what she called a "cowardly attack... on freedom of expression, on the right to creativity, on the democratic values that define us as a country". Police said they had detained one person after Tuesday evening's scuffle near the Barraca theatre in downtown Lisbon. Actor Aderito Lopes, who performs the role of the 16th century one-eyed poet in a play titled "Love Is A Flame That Burns Unseen", had to be hospitalised with face injuries. According to the play's director Maria do Ceu Guerra, the group of about 30 neo-Nazis had been returning from a rally with signs and leaflets that read "Portugal for Portuguese". They initially verbally assaulted an actress who was wearing a T-shirt picturing a star associated with the political left and then attacked two male actors. The attack came on the 30th anniversary of the killing of a young Black man, Alcindo Monteiro, in Lisbon by skinheads, similarly after Portugal Day commemorations. "Thirty years on, this country has not found a way to defend itself from the Nazis," Guerra said in televised remarks. Under the fascist regime of Antonio Salazar, which ruled the country for four decades until 1974, Portugal Day became known as Portuguese Race Day. Ultra-right movements have been marking it with mainly small-scale rallies for years. Following Tuesday's attack, left-wing political parties accused Prime Minister Luis Montenegro's centre-right government of failing to take action against far-right groups. "The neo-fascists are attacking books, the theatre and those involved in culture. They do it because they think they can," Left Bloc lawmaker Mariana Mortagua wrote on X. In her statement, Culture Minister Balseiro Lopes said: "Culture is not intimidated... And it does not accept hatred disguised as political discourse." In April, far-right groups provoked clashes in downtown Lisbon, marring celebrations of the 51st anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, which ended the dictatorship. (Reporting by Andrei Khalip; editing by Charlie Devereux and Gareth Jones)
The Star
16 hours ago
- The Star
Poland's Tusk seeks fresh start after presidential election blow
FILE PHOTO: Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk talks to the press after their meeting on May 16, 2025 in Tirana, Albania. Leon Neal/Pool via REUTERS//File Photo WARSAW (Reuters) -A vote of confidence in Poland's government will take place on Wednesday, as Prime Minister Donald Tusk seeks to regain the initiative for his ruling pro-European coalition after it was shaken by a presidential election defeat. Rafal Trzaskowski from Tusk's Civic Coalition was defeated by nationalist Karol Nawrocki in the June 1 ballot, unleashing recriminations from smaller partners in government and casting doubt over the administration's future when a hostile president wields the power of veto. While the ruling alliance's majority means it is almost certain to win Wednesday's vote, a SW Research poll for Rzeczpospolita daily showed that around a third of Poles thought Tusk's government would not survive until the end of its term in 2027. Tusk will present his government's plan of action to parliament. A debate will then take place before the vote is held in the afternoon. Analysts say that many voters are disillusioned with the government's failure to deliver on promises including liberalising abortion laws, reforming the judiciary and raising the tax-free limit. President Andrzej Duda, an ally of the nationalist Law and Justice party, known as PiS, that backed Nawrocki, has stymied elements of the government's programme that aim to roll back PiS reforms that the European Union said undermined judicial independence. The government had hoped for a Trzaskowski victory that would give it the freedom to fully implement its agenda. Critics say that since it took office in December 2023, Tusk's government has done too little to implement change, with initiatives put on hold in the ultimately futile hope that a sympathetic president would be elected. 'NEW MOMENTUM' It was against this background, and with voices in smaller coalition parties and normally sympathetic media outlets raising questions about his leadership, that Tusk called the vote of confidence. "This vote of confidence is not an attempt to continue everything we have been doing because we know well after this year and a half that some things can be done better, faster and this vote of confidence should be a new beginning," he told a government meeting. "I would like you to know that for the entire... coalition, this is to be a day of new momentum and I am convinced that you will live up to this task." After the vote of confidence, Tusk has said there will be a government reshuffle, which is likely to be in July. Meanwhile, members of the administration say that their coalition agreement will also need to be renegotiated, a process that could lead to conflict. PiS has relished the situation. Party leader Jaroslaw Kaczynski proposed that a "technical government" made up of experts should be put in place immediately to restore calm. Former justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro, the architect of the judicial reforms Tusk's government has sought to overhaul, was more direct. "The lost presidential election is the end of Donald Tusk," he told reporters. "His fate is already sealed." (Reporting by Alan Charlish and Pawel Florkiewicz; editing by Barbara Lewis)
The Star
17 hours ago
- The Star
Americans find ways to not be 'too American' while travelling
As Franck Verhaeghe and two friends planned a March trip to Mexico City, Mexico they plotted out not only where they would stay and which museums they would visit but also the language they would speak: French. 'It's not that I think it's unsafe for Americans,' said Verhaeghe, 65, who lives in California, the United States, but '... I can imagine people there aren't very happy with us. 'So my friends and I decided that on this trip, we would all just speak French to each other.' Two months into his second term, US president Donald Trump has set off panic in Europe about the potential collapse of alliances; inspired boycotts of American products in Canada; heightened tensions between Denmark and Greenland over the island's independence; and prompted protests in Istanbul and Panama over the possibility of US territorial expansion. His proposals are also making some Americans reconsider their travel plans. Behaviour adjustments Since the inauguration, some agencies are noticing a drop in sales for international travel by Americans. Tour operators are fielding inquiries from customers concerned about how they will be received abroad. The risk management company Global Rescue recently conducted a survey that found that 72% of 'experienced' US travellers expected Americans to be less welcome abroad this year. The nervousness does not seem to have translated into widespread cancellations, but social media and travel forums are filled with Americans asking variations of, 'Will they hate us?' Christine Bauer, a retiree from New Hampshire who is planning a trip to France, asked travellers on a Rick Steves' Europe forum for insight into how the French were responding to American foreign policy changes. A few days later, she grew more worried when 'Trump and Musk began insulting NATO and allied countries'. She and her husband haven't made any changes 'at least for now', but they are 'hoping that travel doesn't become more unsafe'. Vicci Jaffe, 68, has second thoughts about an excursion to Berlin, Germany this fall. Her concern stems not only from the rise of the far right in Germany, but also from political changes at home. 'How will I be regarded while in Berlin?' she asked. 'At the very least, I am embarrassed, but also now afraid of retribution or violence.' Some people, including Verhaeghe, who is travelling to Mexico using his second passport (it's European), are adjusting their behaviour. Cheryl Carlson, 63, an educator in Chicago, Illinois, plans to reveal her nationality ahead of time to the owners of the accommodations she and her husband will be staying in during a trip to Canada. This is '... to make sure our presence would not cause a small business to feel uncomfortable hosting us.' Peter Serkian, 60, who travels to Canada twice a month from Michigan, pays in Canadian dollars, not US dollars. 'I try to hide that I am an American,' he said. Feeling spooked Those measures are preventive – none of the interviewees for this article have actually experienced anti-American sentiment. But the nervousness is taking its toll. Cameron Hewitt, content and editorial director for Rick Steves' Europe, has seen a dip in guidebook sales, 'literally starting the day of the inauguration', he said. Lisa Wirth, owner of Ataxito which offers tours to Oaxaca, Mexico, said that some prospective guests are feeling spooked. 'We had several American travellers decide to cancel a week-long tour in February, either because the travel partners they had planned on travelling with backed out due to concerns regarding safety in Mexico or because the current administration and their anxiety around it caused them to pause any trip decisions in the short term,' she said. Others are postponing because of 'concerns regarding inflation and job losses'. Jack Ezon, founder of Embark Beyond, a New York-based luxury travel company, had a client cancel a trip to Mexico. 'They were doing a birthday trip and had booked out the whole hotel,' he said. 'But this was right after the whole tariff thing, and their security team said, 'Don't go, there's anti-American sentiment, it's going to be too dangerous'.' That fear has not been borne out in the experience of other clients, said Ezon, who added that bookings to Mexico have rebounded. And sales to Europe are booming. 'Ever since Covid-19, the recovery from crisis is a lot faster,' he said. It's hard to pinpoint the cause for travellers' unease. Plane crashes, tariffs and stock market instability have contributed, said Jeff Roy, executive vice president of the tour company Collette. 'We've been a little bit behind for the last four to five weeks from what we were producing last year at this time,' Roy said. 'There's so much swirling around right now, it's really hard to know exactly what's causing the change.' What Roy describes as 'mild trepidation' is playing out more in nervous calls than in cancellations. And because many bookings are made far in advance, he's not too worried about this year. If the uncertainty continues, he said, 'I don't know about 2026.' Apparently, lots of people wanted to know more about Greenland after Trump announced that the US wanted to 'buy' the territory. Unexpected interest A few destinations have experienced increased interest since Trump took office. After he said that he wanted the US to 'buy' Greenland – one of The New York Times' '52 places to go in 2025' – the Greenland tourist authority said it was seeing evidence of 'piqued curiosity about the destination'. The new attention has had a similar effect on Panama, whose canal Trump has said he wants the US to 'reclaim'. Carlos Ivan Espinosa, the owner of Panama Canal Tours, said his company has experienced a significant increase in bookings by US tourists. 'Trump's declarations,' he said, 'are awakening curiosity.' That isn't to say there haven't been protests against American rhetoric, notably in Canada, where citizens have objected to Trump's tariffs as well as his expressed desire to turn the country into 'the 51st state'. But those protests aren't directed against American individuals, said Donna Salter, a retired journalist in Vancouver. She, like many Canadians, is swearing off travel to the US for the duration of this administration but welcomes Americans. 'We love Americans and we also love the American dollar, especially now,' Salter said. Not all foreigners are receptive. One TikTok user in Scotland told 'MAGA tourists' that they are not welcome, and a farmer on the Danish island of Bornholm terminated an agreement he had with a US travel agency to receive tourists in his home for coffee and a chat. Panama has experienced a significant increase in tour and hotel bookings from Americans. — Photos: Pixabay 'I would feel ridiculous if I had to discuss democracy with representatives of such a government,' Knud Andersen, the farmer, told the Danish broadcaster DR. On a trip to Italy, California-based Rebecca Andersons and her family had a taxi driver whose criticisms of American politics started with former US president Ronald Reagan and ended with Trump. Andersons told him they were 'too young to vote for Reagan and actually are Californians who voted for Harris'. Apparently forgiven, they later found themselves singing along with the driver to Volare. Other Americans are adopting tactics designed to deflect criticism, like answering the question 'Where are you from?' with their state's name. Sue Rook Nichols from California ordered buttons off Etsy that read, 'I didn't vote for him.' She plans to wear them on a trip to Europe. The tactics may not be necessary. Mariana Hamman, who owns a tour agency in Mexico, said that none of her colleagues had reported encountering anti-American sentiment. 'Sometimes you see 'Go home, gringo' graffiti,' she said. 'But that's about overtourism, not politics.' When David Rojas-Klein, of California, travelled to Mexico recently, his expectation that he would 'see something anti-American' never materialised. 'What I learned was that people make a distinction between the American people and the American government.' The fear that people in other countries will equate them with their politicians' actions is a peculiarly American anxiety, one that also surfaced during the Gulf War, said Hewitt of Rick Steves' Europe. 'If you look at history, most European countries have had experience with a ruler who, especially in retrospect, they're not particularly proud of.' Bo Albertus, a 57-year-old school principal in Denmark, agrees. He administers a Danish Facebook group, 89,000 strong, that is dedicated to boycotting American products. But American citizens are welcome in his country, Albertus said. 'The Danish people don't have a problem with Americans. We have a problem with the American administration.' Even a tourist in a MAGA hat would be treated fine, he added, 'Because in Denmark, we have freedom of speech.' – LISA ABEND/©2025 The New York Times Company This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
