The expected shift to the right is becoming apparent in Portugal. According to post-election surveys, the Democratic Alliance could reach up to 33 percent. The right-wing populist party “Chega” improved particularly significantly.
According to forecasts, Portugal is moving far to the right after the early parliamentary elections. According to a reliable voter survey by the state TV channel RTP, which is based on post-election surveys conducted by the Catholic University, the Democratic Alliance (AD) led by leading candidate Luís Montenegro won the election and could get up to 33 percent of the vote.
The Socialist Party (PS) of Pedro Nuno Santos, which has been in power for eight years, would therefore end up in second place with up to 29 percent. According to the information, the right-wing populist party “Chega” (“Enough!”) improved from a good seven percent in the last election at the beginning of 2022 to now up to 17 percent.
Other Portuguese media – such as the newspaper “Público” – published similar figures to RTP shortly after the remaining polling stations in the Azores closed at 9 p.m. Central European Time.
Portugal faces more difficult times Formation of government
If the counting of votes confirms these results, forming a government will be difficult. In the previous election in January 2022, the PS won with 41 percent and won 120 of the 230 seats in the Lisbon “Assembleia da República”.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa called the vote in November after Socialist Prime Minister António Costa resigned in the wake of a corruption scandal and remained in office only in an acting capacity.
Compared to 2022, according to initial calculations, around a quarter of all eligible voters cast their votes by 12 p.m. – around two percent more than in 2022. President Sousa had urgently advocated making use of the right to vote.
With information from Anna Mundt, currently in Lisbon
Anna Mundt, ARD Madrid, currently Lisbon, tagesschau, March 10, 2024 10:09 p.m