Lisbon (AFP) – Portugal’s far-right Chega party won second place in the country’s snap elections last week, according to final results published on Wednesday.
Chega, which means “Enough”, and the left-wing Socialists 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 results make Chega the official opposition just six years after its creation.
The centre-right Democratic Alliance 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 part 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”.
The anti-immigration party had 50 seats in the last parliament.
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.
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was to hold new talks with the leaders of the three main parties on Thursday and could name a new prime minister during the day.
“Portugal is moving in line with the European trend” for a “protest vote”, said Paula Espirito Santo at Lisbon University’s Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences.
What is the deal with all these far-right parties gaining power right now?
Because the disparity in wealth continues to grow.
People are angry but they have been conditioned (by their rulers) to be angry at the wrong things.
Neo-liberals expect unwavering loyalty from their constituency without giving any in return. For example, we have to call transpeople by the gender they specify even if we disagree with their beliefs, but raising taxes on the wealthy is never on the table.
Since there is no party of the working class, the disenfranchised workers will flock to whatever party supports their social beliefs.
It’s why fighting the culture war is a distraction from the class war.
You’re half right. Just had to throw in an example implying you think trans rights are a belief? Gtfo of here dude. If you didn’t want to bring a culture war into the conversation, you could have left that example out entirely…
I rest my case.
Russia pushes them online
Anyone terminally online starts supporting them
Thinking russia is the cause of everything bad and right wing across the world is equally as dumb as supporting them.
If we want to go back in time
Canada mass imported nazis after the 2nd world war to rural areas because they wanted to prevent communism from spreading
But that isn’t “why now”