HAS Like Ireland, Luxembourg and Malta, Portugal has long been one of the rare exceptions to the phenomenon which has seen the entry of elected representatives from far-right populist parties into the national parliaments of most countries. countries of the European Union. The legislative elections of October 2019 put an end to this singularity by allowing the Chega party (“Enough”), created in the spring of the same year, to access the Sao Bento Palace, seat of the Portuguese Parliament, in Lisbon, with a total of 1.29% of the total votes cast on the national scene.
The sole representative was then the founding president, André Ventura, doctor of law, until then a regular on television as a football commentator and recent defector from the Social Democratic Party (PSD, center right). More than two years later, in January 2022, following a dissolution caused by the rejection of the budget in October 2021, this same party managed to elect twelve deputies in elections which resulted in an absolute majority for the Socialist Party. of the outgoing Prime Minister, Antonio Costa.
In November 2023, Antonio Costa resigned suddenly following the revelation of his involvement in a corruption affair that has remained obscure to this day. The latter is part of a long series of cases involving the country’s two main parties, both on the continent and on the island of Madeira, and having led to increasing tension between the political and judicial powers.
“Clean up Portugal”
This is how the Portuguese are once again called to go to the polls on March 10. This time, a few days before the election, the polls seem to predict a narrow victory for the Aliança Democratica – a coalition made up of Luis Montenegro’s PSD, the center-right party away from power since 2015, and its historic allies which are the Democratic and Social Center – Popular Party (Christian Democratic) and the Monarchist Popular Party -, followed by the Socialist Party, now led by Antonio Costa’s resigned former minister, Pedro Nuno Santos.
Above all, the Chega party, whose promise of “clean up Portugal” and put an end to it “hides and corruption” says a lot about its essentially populist nature, is credited with a total vote ranging from 12% to 20% depending on the different polls.
Throughout an electoral campaign marked essentially by the themes of health, education, housing and purchasing power, the Chega party and its leader, André Ventura, confirmed their populist character by reproducing the recipes which have made far-right populist movements successful in many European countries: anti-elitism, anti-pluralism, demands for more direct participation of the people and various positions based on an ideology that varies depending on the circumstances.
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