Socialist Party leader Pedro Nuno Santos, left, and Luis Montenegro, leader of the Social Democratic Party, greet each other before an election TV debate in Lisbon, Portugal
(Armando Franca/AP)
SUN, 25 FEB, 2024 -
BARRY HATTON, ASSOCIATED PRESS
The official two-week campaign period before Portugal’s early general election began on Sunday, with the country’s two moderate mainstream parties once again expected to collect the most votes but with the expected rise of a populist party potentially adding momentum to Europe’s drift to the right.
The centre-left Socialist Party and centre-right Social Democratic Party have alternated in power for decades.
But they are unsure of how much support they might need from smaller rival parties for the parliamentary votes needed to form a government after the March 10 vote.
Corruption scandals have cast a shadow over the ballot.
They have also fed public disenchantment with the country’s political class as Portugal prepares to celebrate 50 years of democracy, following the Carnation Revolution that toppled a rightist dictatorship on April 25 1974.
The election is being held after a Socialist government collapsed last November following a corruption investigation.
That case brought a police search of prime minister Antonio Costa’s official residence and the arrest of his chief of staff.
Mr Costa has not been accused of any crime.
Also in recent weeks, a Lisbon court decided that a former Socialist prime minister should stand trial for corruption.
Andre Ventura, leader of populist and nationalist party Chega!
(Armando Franca/AP)
Prosecutors allege that Jose Socrates, prime minister between 2005-2011, pocketed around 34 million euros during his time in power from corruption, fraud and money laundering.
The Social Democratic Party has also been tainted by corruption allegations.
During the recent weeks of unofficial campaigning, a corruption investigation in Portugal’s Madeira Islands triggered the resignation of two prominent Social Democrat officials.
The scandal erupted on the same day the Social Democratic Party unveiled an anti-corruption billboard in Lisbon that said: “It can’t go on like this.”
A housing crisis, persistent levels of low pay and unreliable public health services are other areas where the records of the two main parties are at issue.
Hot-button topics that have driven political debate and encouraged populist parties elsewhere in Europe, such as climate change, migration and religious differences, have largely been absent in Portugal’s campaign.
A five-year-old populist and nationalist party called Chega! (in English, Enough!) has made the fight against corruption one of its political banners.
“Portugal needs cleaning out,” one of its billboards declares.
The party’s leader, 41-year-old lawyer Andre Ventura, has been riding in third place in opinion polls and could become a kingmaker if his political influence grows.
His party got just 1.3% of votes in a 2019 election, but jumped to 7.3% in 2022.
It could collect more than double that this time, polls suggest, if a protest vote materialises.
A key question is whether the Social Democrats will end up needing the votes of Chega! to make up a parliamentary majority after eight years in opposition.
The Socialist Party could, as in the past, forge parliamentary alliances with the Portuguese Communist Party or Left Bloc party to take power.
Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos, his party’s candidate for prime minister, is a politician and a former minister for housing and infrastructure.
Mr Santos, 46, quit the previous government under a cloud over his handling of bailed-out flag carrier TAP Air Portugal and a dispute over the site of a new Lisbon airport.
Luís Montenegro, the 51-year-old Social Democrat leader aiming to become prime minister, has been a politician for more than 20 years.
Prosecutors allege that Jose Socrates, prime minister between 2005-2011, pocketed around 34 million euros during his time in power from corruption, fraud and money laundering.
The Social Democratic Party has also been tainted by corruption allegations.
During the recent weeks of unofficial campaigning, a corruption investigation in Portugal’s Madeira Islands triggered the resignation of two prominent Social Democrat officials.
The scandal erupted on the same day the Social Democratic Party unveiled an anti-corruption billboard in Lisbon that said: “It can’t go on like this.”
A housing crisis, persistent levels of low pay and unreliable public health services are other areas where the records of the two main parties are at issue.
Hot-button topics that have driven political debate and encouraged populist parties elsewhere in Europe, such as climate change, migration and religious differences, have largely been absent in Portugal’s campaign.
A five-year-old populist and nationalist party called Chega! (in English, Enough!) has made the fight against corruption one of its political banners.
“Portugal needs cleaning out,” one of its billboards declares.
The party’s leader, 41-year-old lawyer Andre Ventura, has been riding in third place in opinion polls and could become a kingmaker if his political influence grows.
His party got just 1.3% of votes in a 2019 election, but jumped to 7.3% in 2022.
It could collect more than double that this time, polls suggest, if a protest vote materialises.
A key question is whether the Social Democrats will end up needing the votes of Chega! to make up a parliamentary majority after eight years in opposition.
The Socialist Party could, as in the past, forge parliamentary alliances with the Portuguese Communist Party or Left Bloc party to take power.
Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos, his party’s candidate for prime minister, is a politician and a former minister for housing and infrastructure.
Mr Santos, 46, quit the previous government under a cloud over his handling of bailed-out flag carrier TAP Air Portugal and a dispute over the site of a new Lisbon airport.
Luís Montenegro, the 51-year-old Social Democrat leader aiming to become prime minister, has been a politician for more than 20 years.
Portugal electoral campaign begins with right looking to gain
By AFP
Published February 25, 2024
Socialist Party leader Pedro Nuno Santos (L) greets Luis Montenegro (R) before a TV debate on February 19, 2024
By AFP
Published February 25, 2024
Socialist Party leader Pedro Nuno Santos (L) greets Luis Montenegro (R) before a TV debate on February 19, 2024
- Copyright AFP PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA
Thomas CABRAL
Portugal’s official election campaign begins Sunday, with the March 10 legislative vote likely to see a breakthrough by populist parties after an influence peddling scandal brought down eight years of Socialist government.
Portugal, which this April celebrates half a century since its “Carnation Revolution” put an end to an almost equally long fascist dictatorship, has avoided the right-wing and anti-establishment parties that have recently scored successes elsewhere in Europe.
That exception is expected to end.
The Chega party (“Enough” in Portuguese), formed in 2019 by a former football commentator who has become an ardent critic of the country’s political and economic elites, is credited with 15 to 20 percent of the vote.
The surprise resignation of Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa, who is not running for re-election, has helped Chega, said Antonio Costa Pinto, a political scientist at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon.
“The theme of corruption, in this European conjuncture, favours the radical right,” he said.
– Far-right coalitions –
Several European countries, including Italy, Slovakia, Hungary and Finland, are run by coalitions either headed by or including far-right parties.
The Netherlands could join this list after the victory of Geert Wilders in last November’s legislative elections.
Chega, which is anti-immigrant but not always anti-European Union, already became the country’s third largest political force in Portugal’s January 2022 elections with seven percent of the vote and 12 deputies in the 230-seat parliament.
Andre Ventura, its president, aims to displace the centre-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) as the dominant force on Portugal’s right, which is expected to have a majority of the seats in parliament.
For the moment, the PSD is slightly ahead in the polls with about 30 percent of the vote, just in front of the incumbent Socialist Party.
PSD leader Luis Montenegro, who has formed an alliance with two small conservative parties, has for the moment ruled out any coalition with Chega.
– ‘No is no’ –
“No is no,” Montenegro repeats each time the question is asked.
Costa’s successor at the Socialist Party, Pedro Nuno Santos, has said he wouldn’t block the formation of a minority government headed by the centre-right should they finish first but without a working majority.
But according to analyst Costa Pinto, the “sanitary cordon around the extreme right hasn’t worked in other European democracies, and Portugal will be another example.”
Prime minister since the end of 2015, Costa improved the government’s finances and oversaw a largely healthy economy, but was brought down by a series of scandals.
The final blow came when a probe into influence peddling reached his own chief of staff, who was found with 75,800 euros ($82,000) in cash hidden in his office.
Costa’s name was cited in the probe and he resigned in November, saying he wouldn’t seek a new term.
Who’s who in Portugal’s elections
By AFP
February 25, 2024
Portugal's legislative elections take place on March 10
Thomas CABRAL
Portugal’s official election campaign begins Sunday, with the March 10 legislative vote likely to see a breakthrough by populist parties after an influence peddling scandal brought down eight years of Socialist government.
Portugal, which this April celebrates half a century since its “Carnation Revolution” put an end to an almost equally long fascist dictatorship, has avoided the right-wing and anti-establishment parties that have recently scored successes elsewhere in Europe.
That exception is expected to end.
The Chega party (“Enough” in Portuguese), formed in 2019 by a former football commentator who has become an ardent critic of the country’s political and economic elites, is credited with 15 to 20 percent of the vote.
The surprise resignation of Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa, who is not running for re-election, has helped Chega, said Antonio Costa Pinto, a political scientist at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon.
“The theme of corruption, in this European conjuncture, favours the radical right,” he said.
– Far-right coalitions –
Several European countries, including Italy, Slovakia, Hungary and Finland, are run by coalitions either headed by or including far-right parties.
The Netherlands could join this list after the victory of Geert Wilders in last November’s legislative elections.
Chega, which is anti-immigrant but not always anti-European Union, already became the country’s third largest political force in Portugal’s January 2022 elections with seven percent of the vote and 12 deputies in the 230-seat parliament.
Andre Ventura, its president, aims to displace the centre-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) as the dominant force on Portugal’s right, which is expected to have a majority of the seats in parliament.
For the moment, the PSD is slightly ahead in the polls with about 30 percent of the vote, just in front of the incumbent Socialist Party.
PSD leader Luis Montenegro, who has formed an alliance with two small conservative parties, has for the moment ruled out any coalition with Chega.
– ‘No is no’ –
“No is no,” Montenegro repeats each time the question is asked.
Costa’s successor at the Socialist Party, Pedro Nuno Santos, has said he wouldn’t block the formation of a minority government headed by the centre-right should they finish first but without a working majority.
But according to analyst Costa Pinto, the “sanitary cordon around the extreme right hasn’t worked in other European democracies, and Portugal will be another example.”
Prime minister since the end of 2015, Costa improved the government’s finances and oversaw a largely healthy economy, but was brought down by a series of scandals.
The final blow came when a probe into influence peddling reached his own chief of staff, who was found with 75,800 euros ($82,000) in cash hidden in his office.
Costa’s name was cited in the probe and he resigned in November, saying he wouldn’t seek a new term.
Who’s who in Portugal’s elections
By AFP
February 25, 2024
Portugal's legislative elections take place on March 10
- Copyright AFP PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA
The head of the centre-right opposition, the new leader of the Socialist Party, and the founder of an extreme far-right formation are the main candidates in Portugal’s March 10 legislative elections.
The campaign officially gets under way on Sunday.
– Luis Montenegro –
President of the centre-right Social-Democratic Party (PSD) since May 2022, the 51-year-old led its parliamentary group when it was in power from 2011 to 2015 and imposed severe austerity measures.
Montenegro’s refusal to consider any alliance with the far-right led him to break with Pedro Passos Coelho, the prime minister of that period.
Born in Portugal’s second city Porto, he grew up in nearby Espinho, where he lost an election for mayor in 2005.
Trained as a lawyer, he became a deputy at 29 in 2002 and was in parliament until 2018.
He was elected as head of the PSD two years after a first failed attempt.
– Pedro Nuno Santos –
The controversial head of the Socialist Party’s left wing, the bearded 46-year-old has long been a contender to replace outgoing Prime Minister Antonio Costa as party leader.
Son of a “self-made man” from the northern d’Aveiro region who made a fortune in the shoe business, he played a key role as liaison to far-left parties that supported Costa’s government.
Promoted to infrastructure minister, Santos fell out with Costa for announcing the site of a new Lisbon airport without his consent.
He resigned in late 2022 after a scandal about an indemnity paid to a departing administrator at national airline TAP, which was in the midst of a restructuring plan.
– Andre Ventura –
Described as ambitious or opportunistic, or both, the 41-year-old with a youthful face and three-day beard had thought of becoming a priest or a writer. In the end, he made his name as a television sports commentator.
That opened the gates to a political career, initially with the PSD.
Originally from the Lisbon suburbs, he became a national figure when he denounced the Roma community when he was a mayoral candidate in a nearby town.
Armed with his charm and sharp tongue, Ventura quit the PSD to create “Chega” (“Enough”) in 2019, spreading a populist and anti-establishment message.
Elected to parliament that year as his party’s only member, he led his formation to become the country’s third largest in the 2022 legislative elections.
The head of the centre-right opposition, the new leader of the Socialist Party, and the founder of an extreme far-right formation are the main candidates in Portugal’s March 10 legislative elections.
The campaign officially gets under way on Sunday.
– Luis Montenegro –
President of the centre-right Social-Democratic Party (PSD) since May 2022, the 51-year-old led its parliamentary group when it was in power from 2011 to 2015 and imposed severe austerity measures.
Montenegro’s refusal to consider any alliance with the far-right led him to break with Pedro Passos Coelho, the prime minister of that period.
Born in Portugal’s second city Porto, he grew up in nearby Espinho, where he lost an election for mayor in 2005.
Trained as a lawyer, he became a deputy at 29 in 2002 and was in parliament until 2018.
He was elected as head of the PSD two years after a first failed attempt.
– Pedro Nuno Santos –
The controversial head of the Socialist Party’s left wing, the bearded 46-year-old has long been a contender to replace outgoing Prime Minister Antonio Costa as party leader.
Son of a “self-made man” from the northern d’Aveiro region who made a fortune in the shoe business, he played a key role as liaison to far-left parties that supported Costa’s government.
Promoted to infrastructure minister, Santos fell out with Costa for announcing the site of a new Lisbon airport without his consent.
He resigned in late 2022 after a scandal about an indemnity paid to a departing administrator at national airline TAP, which was in the midst of a restructuring plan.
– Andre Ventura –
Described as ambitious or opportunistic, or both, the 41-year-old with a youthful face and three-day beard had thought of becoming a priest or a writer. In the end, he made his name as a television sports commentator.
That opened the gates to a political career, initially with the PSD.
Originally from the Lisbon suburbs, he became a national figure when he denounced the Roma community when he was a mayoral candidate in a nearby town.
Armed with his charm and sharp tongue, Ventura quit the PSD to create “Chega” (“Enough”) in 2019, spreading a populist and anti-establishment message.
Elected to parliament that year as his party’s only member, he led his formation to become the country’s third largest in the 2022 legislative elections.
A supporter, center, of Andre Ventura, right, leader of populist and nationalist party Chega! (in English, Enough!) turns to journalists to utter insults at members of Portugal’s two main political parties, during a Chega campaign action in Almada, Portugal, south of Lisbon, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. Ventura has been riding in third place in opinion polls and could be cast in the role of kingmaker after Portugal’s March 10 general election, if his political influence grows. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
A girl carries a poster with the words “April 25 always, Fascism never again!” during a demonstration against racism in Lisbon, Portugal, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. April 25 is the date of the 1974 Carnation Revolution that toppled a rightist dictatorship in Portugal. The demonstration was organized under the slogan “Vote against racism,” as an election campaign kicks off ahead of Portugal’s March 10 general election. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
Birds fly above election campaign billboards for leftist parties in Lisbon, Portugal, Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. The official two-week campaign period before Portugal’s snap general election begins Feb. 25, with the country’s two moderate mainstream parties once again expected to collect most votes but with the possible rise of a populist party potentially adding momentum to Europe’s drift to the right. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)
Demonstrators attend a protest by police professional associations demanding better salaries and work conditions in Lisbon, Portugal, Jan. 24, 2024. Corruption scandals have cast a shadow over Portugal’s March 10 snap election. They have also fed public disenchantment with the country’s political class. A housing crisis, persistent levels of low pay and unreliable public health services are other areas where the records of the two main parties are at issue. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)
A woman holds up a red carnation, symbol of the Portuguese 1974 revolution that restored democracy in Portugal, during a protest against the country’s housing crisis, in Lisbon, Portugal, Jan. 27, 2024. Corruption scandals have cast a shadow over Portugal’s March 10 snap election. They have also fed public disenchantment with the country’s political class as Portugal prepares to celebrate in April, 50 years of democracy, following the 1974 Carnation Revolution that toppled a rightist dictatorship. (AP Photo/Armando Franca, File)
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