Lisbon: Portugal’s right-wing populist party Chega, which has been on the rise for six years, has suffered a significant setback in the country’s local elections held over the weekend. Preliminary official results on Monday suggest it will provide three mayors for the first time since its founding in 2019. However, party leader Andr© Ventura had set a target of winning between 10 and 30 of the 308 town halls.
According to Ghana News Agency, the electoral authority reported that Chega received 11.86% of the vote nationwide, down from 22.76% in the parliamentary elections five months ago. Just six years after its founding, Chega had become the second strongest force in parliament in May with 60 MPs. Only Prime Minister Lus Montenegro’s grouping of centre-right parties, the Democratic Alliance (AD), is stronger, with 91 seats. At the time, the media described Chega’s rise as ‘historic’ and ‘a revolution.’
Now Ventura admitted he was disappointed by the results, saying his party was not fighting to be second or third. ‘This party is fighting to win. We didn’t win today, but we will continue to fight to win.’
Sunday’s local elections were seen as the first test of public opinion after the parliamentary elections. The AD alliance celebrated a clear victory. According to the electoral authority, Montenegro’s party, the PSD alone won 136 mayoral seats – ten more than before.
Meanwhile, the downward trend continued for the Socialist Party (PS), which had governed Portugal between 2015 and 2024 under the current EU Council President Ant³nio Costa. Preliminary official results show it now only holds 128 town halls, 20 fewer than before.