As of: March 10, 2024, 12:49 p.m
By: Fabian Hartmann
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Portugal chooses.
Accusations of corruption and the recent growing discontent in the country are putting the government under pressure - including from the right.
Lisbon – A new parliament will be elected in Portugal this Sunday (March 10th).
The socialist ruling party PS has to deal with great competition from the right and the far right.
Because the right-wing extremist “Chega” is likely to score particularly well with young clientele.
It also benefits from the recent growing discontent in the country.
Recent polls predict a neck-and-neck race between the PS and the opposition center-right Democratic Alliance in today's parliamentary election.
The socialist party has been in government for eight years.
If she is voted out, this could result in the formation of a minority government.
Pedro Nuno Santos, leader of the Portuguese Socialist Party © IMAGO/Rita Franca / SOPA Images
According to experts, the right-wing extremist “Chega”, which has been represented in the Portuguese parliament for five years, is also likely to expect a double-digit result.
According to recent surveys, the party led by former TV sports commentator André Ventura could improve its vote share from seven to 15 to 20 percent.
This could make it the third strongest force in the Portuguese parliament.
The Portuguese expression “Chega” can be translated into German as the phrase “It’s enough”.
The mood in Portugal is depressed – due, among other things, to low wages and high rent prices
Today's parliamentary election in Portugal is an early one.
It was scheduled after Socialist Prime Minister António Luís Santos da Costa resigned in November following allegations of corruption and nepotism.
Although Portugal recorded economic growth of 2.4 percent last year, which was above the EU average, after a strong economic increase of 6.7 percent in 2022, the mood in the country is currently depressed.
The majority of the country's citizens are not feeling the effects of the economic upswing: rent prices are at a high level, while wages are quite low compared to other European countries.
In 2022, for example, the average monthly salary before taxes was deducted was around 1,400 euros.
For many it means that living space is no longer affordable - a trend that has now set in not only in the capital Lisbon.
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Accusations of corruption and nepotism – the image of the popular parties is damaged
In addition, the reputation of the two popular parties, PS and PSD, has been damaged because of the corruption allegations.
The allegations are a key issue for the upcoming parliamentary election.
The cases that have become public have caused a “lot of resentment,” says Paula Espirito Santo from the Institute for Social and Political Sciences at the University of Lisbon to the
Rheinische Post
.
This mood could, like some other European countries, move Portugal to the right.
There, the comparatively young right-wing populist Chega party could benefit from the disappointment with the established parties.
In the past, your party leader Ventura has repeatedly been noticed for using outdated resentments to make politics.
In spring 2020, at the height of the first Corona wave in Portugal, he called for Sinti and Roma to be banished to a kind of forced camp.
The unusually high spread of the virus that has developed in this population group should not spread to other parts of society.
Right-wing populist politics target Sinti and Roma
Political scientist Isabel David from the University of Lisbon is not surprised that the right-wing populist chose this minority as a target.
Prejudices against Sinti and Roma are still widespread in the Portuguese majority society, she explains to the
Tagesschau
.
In contrast to racist attitudes towards other groups, such as African refugees from sub-Saharan Africa, almost no one in Portugal keeps their racism against Sinti and Roma behind the scenes.
In a nod to the superstitions of older Sinti and Roma in particular, business people would place frog figures in front of their shops or in their shop windows to discourage people from this population group from entering their shops.
There is also the prejudice that Sinti and Roma are work-shy.
Chega boss Ventura specifically uses all of these very old and actually antiquated prejudices to spread his political views in a populist manner.
Huge emigration rate among young people and low birth rate
The right-wing extremist Chega party could benefit in the parliamentary elections in particular from the recent enormous emigration rate of young people from Portugal.
Many of them increasingly see no prospects for themselves in their country of origin and are leaving Portugal for abroad, where they still have opportunities for self-realization.
In its current emigration atlas, the Observatory for Emigration comes to the conclusion that around a third of people born in Portugal between the ages of 15 and 39 currently live abroad, as the
Tagesschau
reports.
In total, this is more than 850,000 people.
It is said that mainly well-educated young people are leaving Portugal - and in many cases do not return.
With its emigration rate, Portugal ranks 8th in a global comparison. No other European country has a comparably high emigration rate.
This has consequences for the overall average age of Portuguese society.
It is getting older because it also has one of the lowest birth rates in the European Union.
Conservative party rules out government alliance with right-wing extremist Chega
The conservative opposition leader Luís Montenegro can legitimately hope that his center-right electoral alliance will become the strongest force in the Portuguese parliament in the upcoming election.
But in all likelihood without its own governing majority.
Montenegro had ruled out cooperation with the Chega party several times in the past.
Chega President Ventura, meanwhile, has indicated he is willing to drop some of the party's controversial positions, including chemical castration for some sex offenders, in a move that could open the door to a governing alliance with other parties.
(fh)