The winner of the early parliamentary elections in Portugal, Montenegro, has been appointed Prime Minister. He now wants to form a minority government – although he could form a coalition with the right-wing populists.
In Portugal, after eight years of socialist government, the head of the center-right Democratic Alliance (AD) party has been given the task of forming a government. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa invited the head of the alliance, Luis Montenegro, to form a minority government and appointed him as the country’s new prime minister.
The AD narrowly won the parliamentary elections on March 10th, but clearly missed a government majority. The 51-year-old from Montenegro had repeatedly stated that he would not negotiate with the right-wing populists of the Chega party and now confirmed that the AD was ready to govern alone.
Rely on other parties for laws
After all votes were counted, the AD won 80 seats in the 230-seat legislature, followed by the Socialists with 78 seats and Chega, which was founded just five years ago, with 50 seats, quadrupling its parliamentary representation. An AD government will therefore have to rely on agreements in parliament with the Chega or the left wing in order to pass legislative proposals, which makes it potentially unstable.
Chega leader and former TV sports commentator Andre Ventura has demanded government participation in return for his support. The election result highlights the political trend towards right-wing populism and the weakening of socialist governments across Europe, which should lead to gains for far-right parties in June’s European elections.
Corruption allegations against predecessors
The 51-year-old lawyer Montenegro succeeds the socialist António Costa, who took over the office at the end of 2015. The early election was called after Costa resigned in November due to corruption allegations against those around him. Although the investigation against Costa himself was quickly closed, he did not run again in the new election.
Milena Pieper, ARD Madrid, tagesschau, March 21, 2024 6:01 a.m