Portugal’s center-right Democratic Alliance is expected to finish first in Sunday’s parliamentary election but will fall short of an outright majority, results showed late Sunday after 92 percent of ballots were counted. The assessment indicates that difficult negotiations are ahead with the far-right, which has achieved enormous success, Reuters reports.

Chega’s far-right populist party (Destul) came third with 19% of the vote, almost triple its result in the last election in early 2022, when it won 7.2%. The group campaigned on an anti-establishment message, promising to root out corruption and hostility to what it sees as “excessive” immigration.

By the final count, the Democratic Alliance (AD) had 29.8% of the vote, slightly ahead of the incumbent Socialist Party (PS), which had 28.7%.

Preliminary results corresponded to exit polls published after polling stations closed at 8:00 p.m. (10:00 p.m. Romanian time).

Voter turnout was nearly 65%, a significant increase from 51.5% in 2022.

“This is the end of the two-party system,” Chega leader André Ventura told reporters, referring to the PS and the Social Democratic Party (PSD), which leads the new Democratic Alliance. The two parties have alternated in power since the fall of the fascist dictatorship five decades ago.

Sunday’s vote clearly shows that the Portuguese want a coalition government between AD and Chega, Ventura added.

However, AD currently rules out any deal with Chega, which could lead to an unstable minority government that far-right MPs could topple at any moment.

Sunday’s vote was prompted by the resignation of Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa four months ago amid a corruption investigation.

Among the issues that dominated the campaign in Western Europe’s poorest country were the housing crisis, low wages, the health care system and corruption, which many believe are endemic to the ruling parties.

(news.ro)