The socialists win by the minimum in Portugal while the extreme right loses strength

The European elections were experienced this Sunday as a second round of the legislative elections held in March in Portugal. And the results were similar, although on this occasion the victory leaned towards the Socialist Party (PS), which received 40,000 more votes than the Democratic Alliance (AD), the conservative coalition that won the March elections by just 50,000 votes difference. . That situation of almost a tie has been repeated again, although with the positions reversed. With 99.31% counted, the PS was declared the winner of the elections with 32% of the votes, compared to 31% for AD. The socialists reached eight deputies, one less than they had won in 2019. The conservative coalition reached another eight seats, one more than in the previous legislature if those of the two coalition parties were added and which then competed separately.

What has not been repeated has been the triumphant night of the extreme right. Chega, the party founded by André Ventura in 2019 and which was a resounding success in the last elections by achieving more than a million votes, enters the European Parliament for the first time, but has fallen far short of its expectations. While in March he received 18% of the votes, this time he was around 10% and saw the Liberal Initiative (IL) challenge him for third position. Barely 30,000 ballots separated both formations and they tied in the number of seats (two). André Ventura, in his appearance in Lisbon, acknowledged that he had not achieved his goal and that he is not satisfied with a secondary role. “After March 10, Chega goes to every election to win,” he stated.

The day has also confirmed what was already drawn at the polls in March: a change in the political cycle to the right. While in 2019 all the forces on the left (Socialist Party, Bloco de Esquerda, Portuguese Communist Party and the environmentalists of Pessoas-Animais-Natureza) had 14 representatives, the conservatives only had seven. Now the relationship of forces has been reversed and, despite the exercise of resilience shown by the socialists, hegemony has shifted to the right. Left Bloco and the Communist Party managed to retain one deputy from the two they each had, which will go to the former coordinator of the BE, Catarina Martins, and João Oliveira.

The winner of the night was Marta Temido, the former socialist minister who achieved great popularity and appreciation for her work during the pandemic. Appreciation for Temido declined when life returned to normal and serious problems began to emerge in public health that would lead her to resign in the summer of 2022. In her speech, the candidate highlighted the victory as a sign “of collective conscience, citizenship and European consciousness”, in addition to being “a triumph for women”.

Temido’s main adversary was the political commentator Sebastião Bugalho, a surprise signing from the Democratic Alliance decided personally by the Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, with the intention of connecting with the young vote. In his speech last night, Montenegro revealed that he is willing to support the candidacy of the socialist António Costa to preside over the European Council. Furthermore, he once again reiterated his desire to “dialogue” with the Socialist Party to reach a consensus on relevant issues for the governance of the country.

The result has been a boost for the new leadership in the Socialist Party, which elected Pedro Nuno Santos in primaries as António Costa’s successor after he resigned as prime minister and general secretary of the PS at the end of 2023. Costa’s resignation It occurred due to a judicial operation that investigated irregularities in the granting of business projects and that led to the arrest, among others, of the prime minister’s chief of staff and the opening of an investigation in the Supreme Court of António Costa. Seven months later, the Prosecutor’s Office investigation has been censored twice by judicial bodies for its weak nature. Costa, who recently testified before the prosecutors leading Operation Influencer, depends on the resolution of this case to open a new political stage in Europe. For now, he has become a television commentator, a role frequently assumed by politicians in Portugal.

Although abstention was high (63.52%) compared to national electoral events, participation was notable compared to previous European elections. This increase has been influenced by the efforts of the Portuguese administration to facilitate the exercise of voting. For the first time in community-level elections, early voting was allowed, to which 250,000 people took part, and a mobile voting modality was launched, which allowed voters to deposit their ballot at any polling station in the country with the presentation of your identity document.

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