Voters in Portugal swing right, but who will govern remains unclear

By Alyssa McMurtry

OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Portuguese voters swung significantly to the right in national elections on Sunday, but with the two leading parties close to a tie with 99% of the votes counted, what happens next remains in the air.

The surprisingly close elections defied the most recent polls that predicted a solid victory for the conservative Democratic Alliance over the Socialist Party.

But with 99% of the votes counted, the Socialists had 75 seats and the Democratic Alliance had 77. The far-right party Chega party had 46.

During the campaign, the leading parties said they would avoid allowing Chega in the government. During a debate, Socialist candidate Pedro Nuno Santos said he would support the Democratic Alliance candidate Luís Montenegro if he won the most seats.

But with such a tight split between the Socialist Party and the Democratic Alliance, that promise is more complicated.

Former Prime Minister Antonio Costa said the results would probably be too close to call on Sunday and that decisions will have to be postponed until votes from abroad are counted.

If the four seats from abroad fall the same way they did in 2022, the Socialists and Democratic Alliance could find themselves in an exact tie.

The Democratic Alliance, however, did claim victory and said the Socialist Party lost early Monday morning.

The polls leading up to the vote also underestimated the performance of the Chega party. In 2022, it won just 12 seats. On Sunday, its result more than quadrupled, with at least 46 seats and 18% of the vote.

Portugal’s snap elections were called in November after Socialist Prime Minister Costa resigned as members of his inner circle were investigated for corruption.

Just two years ago, Costa won with a historic majority, surpassing the 116 seats needed.

In the meantime, the Democratic Alliance members also had to grapple with a corruption scandal of their own after the Social Democratic Party heads of the island of Madeira resigned over corruption as well.

Chega, which means “Enough” in Portuguese, ran on the motto “Clean Portugal.”

Indeed, the far-right party, dating back to just 2019, took advantage of the recent corruption scandals tainting the country’s two leading parties.

But its leader, Andre Ventura, has also been widely accused of racism and xenophobia.

“We still don’t know how the results will fall exactly, but we know one thing for sure – the bipartisan system is dead in Portugal,” said Ventura early Monday morning, adding that the Portuguese mandated a right-wing government with Chega in it.

Economic issues were also at the center of the campaign. With some of the lowest wages in the European Union, many Portuguese residents have struggled to cope with inflation and the soaring cost of living, with housing prices a major issue.

Analyzing the results, former Portuguese Prime Minister Costa was the first major figure to speak.

He said it will be important to understand if the votes for Chega were a way to protest against inflation and corruption, or whether they will remain structural in the system.