How the new right coalition in Portugal might affect Ukraine

A right-wing coalition may come to power in Portugal after nearly 20 years of center-leftist cabinet. Read more about how Portugal's policies may change and whether Ukraine faces a potential threat from the far-right parties in the new government in the article by Oleh Pavliuk, a European Pravda's journalist - Elections amid corruption: Portugal prepares for historic change in power. The current parliamentary elections in Portugal have taken place ahead of schedule, after just two and a half years.

The Socialists led by Antonio Costa received over 40% of the votes and more than half of the seats in the previous elections, winning the right to form a government. The Socialist Party though ended its eight-year reigning because of a corruption scandal erupted in November of 2023. The government of Antonio Costa did a lot to lead the country out of the economic crisis.

The main components of the socialists' economic policy were managing the national debt, attracting foreign investment (including EU funds), and focusing on tourism. Their economic measures were far from popular among average Portuguese citizens, making it socialists's main weakness. Moreover, Costa's government was constantly rocked by corruption scandals (not surprising in a country where a significant number of the economy is state-owned).

This all became a convenient target for criticism from opponents of the Socialist Party. Their main opponent was the center-right Democratic Alliance, which consists of the Social Democratic and Christian Democratic parties. Democratic Alliance campaigned on promises that evidently resonated with the Portuguese people: increasing average wages, cutting taxes for the middle class and companies, providing affordable housing, banning the sale of real estate to non-residents, and so on.

So it's no wonder that the center-right eventually gained a slight advantage - 29.5% and 79 seats out of 230. Meanwhile, the socialists, who asked voters to vote for them to prevent the right from coming to power, lost about a third of the votes and dropped to second place with 28.7% and 77 seats in parliament (120 before). The results of the parliamentary elections in Portugal show: none of the parties have enough votes to form a majority government.

But even the combined left-wing forces (socialists, Left Bloc, Greens, and Eurosceptic Communists from the Coalition of Democratic Unity) can only get 90 seats, which is clearly insufficient for a majority. So the next Portugal's government is likely to be right-wing. But it will be known for sure after consultations between the leaders of parliamentary parties and the country's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, as required by the procedure. The "golden share" ended up in the hands of far-right Chega!

Chega!, which roughly translates from Portuguese as Enough!, emerged relatively recently, in 2019. Its leader, former member of the Social Democratic Party Andre Ventura, bet on open populism and far right ideas, as well as homophobic, racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric. They have already expressed readiness to support a center-right government led by Luis Montenegro.

Together with Democratic Alliance, they would have 135 seats, enough for a comfortable majority. The election consequences go far beyond the country's borders. These elections were the last in the European Union before the vote for the European Parliament in June 2024.

And they once again confirmed the gradual rise of right-wing and far-right forces.

Fortunately, Portuguese far-right parties do not currently pose a threat to Ukraine's support.

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