Saturday 02 / November / 2024
Lisbon: The leader of Portugal's centre-right Democratic Alliance (DA), Luis Montenegro, claimed victory in in Sunday's closely-contested parliamentary election.
Meanwhile, the center-left Socialist Party (PS) conceded defeat and its leader Pedro Nuno Santos congratulated the DA on its victory.
Earlier, the first exit polls following the election on Sunday suggested the Democratic Alliance would emerge as the largest party.
The poll for public television RTP projected AD winning between 83 and 91 seats in the 230-seat parliament, well short of a majority by itself.
The ruling centre-left Socialist Party (PS) was predicted to slip to second-largest party, on between 69 and 77 seats.
The Socialist Party has been in power since 2015, but had faced public ire recently as a corruption investigation forced Prime Minister Antonio Costa to resign.
Socialist Party supporters attend the announcement of the first electoral results at their party headquarter in Lisbon, Sunday, March 10, 2024.Socialist Party supporters attend the announcement of the first electoral results at their party headquarter in Lisbon, Sunday, March 10, 2024.
Meanwhile, the far-right party Chega (Enough) was predicted to make sizeable gains, rising from 12 seats before the vote to between 40 and 46.
Should the projections prove accurate, forming a governing coalition that commands a majority could prove very difficult.
Around 10.8 million people were eligible to vote to elect 230 legislators to the Portuguese parliament.
The campaign focused on issues such as corruption, economic concerns, and health care.
Chega party leader Andre Ventura told reporters after the polls closed that the results were looking "absolutely historical" for his party.
"It's the end of the two-party system," the lawyer and former football commentator said.
"We want to give Portugal a stable government," Ventura said after the exit poll was released. "We are available to build a government in Portugal."
Although some members of the center-right AD alliance have been more evasive on the question, party leader Luis Montenegro had said several times before the vote that he would not ally with Chega.
Luis Montenegro casts his vote at a polling station in Espinho, near Porto, during the legislative elections held on March 10, 2024 in Portugal. Luis Montenegro casts his vote at a polling station in Espinho, near Porto, during the legislative elections held on March 10, 2024 in Portugal.
However, his options may prove limited if he aims to form a coaliton with a majority that does not include AD's main rivals PS, who also rule out working with Chega.
Without an absolute majority, the two leading candidates — Luis Montenegro of the AD and Pedro Nuno Santos of the Socialists and — might have to forge alliances with smaller parties to form a government.
The Socialists could look to former left-wing allies for alliances, while the AD would face a tough challenge to form a government without Chega, amid its surging popularity.
Conservative President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa faced criticism on Friday after he said in an interview that he would do everything he could to prevent Chega from gaining power. He was called out for deviating from his mandate of remaining neutral.
Chega's election manifesto vowed to deal with "excessive" immigration while also addressing government corruption. Since the 2022 election, the far-right party has seen its support base more than double.
That would mirror gains by far-right parties across Europe.
