On Sunday, the Portuguese are called to the polls against the backdrop of the advance of the far right

The elections are being held early after António Costa resigned in November 2023 due to a corruption scandal involving members of his government, which shook the Socialists in one of the last 11 countries in which they participate in government up to the federation level.

• Ahead of the next legislature, António Costa's European ambitions have also been suspended from the Portuguese judicial system: the Social Democrats have chosen him as a leading candidate for European Council president, and the former prime minister hopes to see his name cleared of scandal before negotiations begin. Top jobs.

The Socialists' campaign is led by the party's new Secretary General, Pedro Nuno Santos.

• The Socialist Party is in second place in the opinion polls (28%), behind the Democratic Alliance (32%), a just-formed coalition of the Social Democratic Party (PPE), the CDS Popular Party, and the Royalist (European Christian) Popular Party. political movement)¹.
• It is possible that the Socialist Party or the Democratic Alliance will not be able to achieve an absolute majority in these elections.

It is possible that the far-right Chega Party, led by Andre Ventura, will achieve a historic result and become the third political force in Parliament.

• It currently stands at 17% in opinion polls, compared to 7% in the 2022 legislative elections.
• The corruption scandal benefits the party founded in 2019, which has an anti-corruption and anti-elite streak, and calls for a “great cleansing” of Portugal.

The leader of the Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Alliance, Luis Montenegro, has so far ruled out forming a government with Chega.

• He addressed the latter's constituents, saying he “understood” their frustration and discontent, and presented the Democratic Party as the only vector for real political change: “I also know that they believe that the leader of this party will not solve anything. I also know that they know that the platform of this party does not offer solutions.”

The formation of the next government for the post-Costa Portugal period remains largely uncertain to this day, depending on the results that will be obtained this evening, while the number of undecided voters reached 16% on March 8.