LISBON: Friday marks the last day of campaigning for Portugal’s legislative polls this Sunday.
The spotlight is on the far-right Chega (Enough) party and the extraordinary role it could play in national politics, even if it remains just the third-largest party in parliament.
Its leader, André Ventura, a former councillor for the centre-right Social Democratic Party and one-time trainee priest who earned fame on national television commenting on football, has made record immigration and corruption the main focus of viral social media campaigns.
First elected to legislature in 2019, he has proved an agile performer whose drastic policy shifts have done more to broaden party’s base than undermine its credibility, according to BBC.
In criminal justice, where he once demanded chemical castration for rapists, he now poses as a champion of police officers demonstrating for better pay; in health and education, where Chega called for the state to bow out almost entirely, he now proposes more modest reforms, and promising higher pensions.
Sunday’s snap polls were called after the Socialist prime minister, António Costa, quit after being caught up in a probe into irregularities in state contracts – handing Ventura more ammunition for his campaign.
A separate scandal in Madeira brought down the Social Democratic Party regional government, making Ventura’s old party look like part of the problem, too.
Polls for Purtagal elections
Polls for election show the PSD-dominated Democratic Alliance ahead of the Socialist Party with a narrow margin, but short of a majority in legislature, even with the smaller Liberal Initiative.
Chega has been on 16 percent or more (up from 7 percent in the 2022 legislative elections), concentrating minds on what a minority AD government might have to do to stay in power.
The Social Democratic Party leader, Luís Montenegro, has reiterated “no is no” when asked if he would seek Chega’s support for the AD’s programme of income tax slashes and free-market reforms.
In a televised head-to-head with Ventura, he criticized his opponent as demagogic, racist, and xenophobic.
Portugal’s economy last year grew by 2.3 percent, faster than most other countries in the European Union (EU), and inflation has fallen sharply. But real incomes of the citizens have been slow to return to pre-Covid-19 levels.
