As of: March 16, 2024, 8:31 p.m
From: Foreign Policy
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The election in Portugal could be a precursor to the European Parliament elections in June.
The right is on the rise in the EU.
Right-wing extremist parties are on the rise in Europe - now also in Portugal
The right-wing extremist Chega achieved great electoral success in March under the leadership of André Ventura
Ventura was able to score points with Portuguese voters with anti-elitist and populist rhetoric
Portugal is symptomatic of the whole of Europe: a shift to the right is expected in the coming European elections
This article is available for the first time in German - it was first published by
Foreign Policy
magazine on March 7, 2024 .
Lisbon/Washington, DC – As far-right parties gained influence across Europe, Portugal was long an anomaly.
Gradually, right-wing extremist parties also entered parliament in other countries that were considered immune to extremism: the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party won its first parliamentary seats in 2017, followed two years later by the Spanish party Vox.
These parties joined the already established parties in Austria, France, the Netherlands, Sweden and other countries and quickly consolidated their place in the political landscape of their countries.
In Portugal, however, some small far-right parties had tried but failed to gain serious influence in the five decades since the 1974 revolution that toppled the country's dictatorship.
When Chega, a far-right party led by the charismatic André Ventura, took office in 2019, it looked as if it would face the same headwinds as its predecessors.
Chega strong in the polls – rise of the extreme right across the EU
But the dynamics of the election campaign in the run-up to the early parliamentary elections on March 10 show that the political scene in the country of 10 million is changing.
According to recent polls, Chega (Portuguese for “enough”) could win almost 20 percent of the vote.
With the center-left Socialists and center-right Social Democrats in a neck-and-neck race for first place, Chega could end up being the kingmaker for the next government if, as expected, none of the established parties do receives enough seats to form a majority.
The results are the latest evidence of the rise of the far right across the continent ahead of the European elections in June.
André Ventura in Lisbon on March 10th.
© ANDRE DIAS NOBRE
Ventura, a 41-year-old former TV soccer commentator who is running with the message "Portugal needs to be cleaned up," was buoyed by a number of factors.
These include the corruption-related resignation of Prime Minister António Costa at the end of last year, growing frustration with the political system and a shift to the right among young voters.
A wide-ranging corruption investigation into members of Costa's Socialist government sparked this month's vote and led to a fresh wave of support for Chega.
Historically, Portugal is considered a poor breeding ground for right-wing ideologies - Chega is breaking with this tradition
As a result, Portugal is no longer the exception when it comes to the extreme right.
In fact, the country has never really been immune to far-right politics, experts say – Portugal's hard right just hasn't had the right time or the right leader to capitalize.
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However, since the 1974 revolution, a combination of historical factors has prevented the right-wing extremists from gaining a foothold in Portugal.
One of these factors was the nature of the revolution itself, which was a reaction to a conservative dictatorship.
“The revolution, which was largely led by left-wing movements, prevented anything to the right of the established right from emerging for a long time,” said Luca Manucci, a political scientist at the University of Lisbon.
“But it’s not as if these parties didn’t exist.”
Immigration hardly divides Portugal: A problem for the right-wing extremist Chega
Portugal's long history of immigration from its former colonies such as Brazil, Cape Verde and Angola has also meant that immigration here has been less divisive than in many other European countries.
“Immigration in Portugal is hardly politicized at all,” says Lea Heyne, who researches the extreme right in Portugal together with Manucci.
“This has to some extent restricted Chega in the way that other populist radical right parties in other countries can operate.”
Five years ago, Chega barely made a dent at the national level.
In the 2019 elections, the newly formed party received only 1.3 percent of the vote and a single parliamentary constituency: Ventura, just outside Lisbon.
While it wasn't a strong result, it was a historic turning point and gave Ventura a springboard into the political spotlight.
Ventura has the right attributes to attract voters.
António Costa Pinto, a political scientist at the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon, describes it well: “Ventura is the party.”
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Ventura can win over young voters with anti-elitist rhetoric
Ventura came from the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), giving him the air of respectability he needs to win over a broader range of voters.
After an unsuccessful mayoral election campaign near Lisbon in 2017, in which he used harsh anti-Roma rhetoric, he split from the PSD in 2018 - a message he continues to pursue as a member of parliament.
Ventura describes Portugal's Roma population, which has lived in the country for centuries, as "criminal" and claims they are disproportionately reliant on government services.
Ventura has also made a name for himself by his willingness to say things other politicians wouldn't say.
“He introduced a new kind of political speech, anti-elitist political speech – the typical populist right-wing recipe,” Pinto said.
In addition, Ventura became known throughout the country for his role as a professional football commentator.
“The moment he launched Chega, all the cameras were on him,” Manucci said.
In the 2022 elections, Chega gained widespread national attention with 12 seats and 7.2 percent of the vote.
Since then, Ventura has managed to appeal to a group of voters dissatisfied with the Portuguese political system, including young people and many who had not previously voted.
Continuing wave of migration gives Chega a boost - Ventura can score points with voters
A recent wave of migration – the number of people of foreign origin living in Portugal increased for the seventh consecutive year in 2022 – has also allowed Ventura and Chega to exploit an issue that has long played a minor role in Portuguese politics.
Ventura has advocated for tougher penalties for illegal immigration as it is “destroying Europe” and called for a “drastic reduction in the Islamic presence in the European Union.”
Chega has also promised to end corruption among Portugal's political elite - a slogan that can be found on election posters in Lisbon.
This message is well received by voters, especially in an election in which corruption plays a central role.
Prime Minister Costa resigned in November after police arrested his chief of staff and raided his residence and government buildings in connection with alleged interference in Portugal's lithium mining industry.
Another former socialist prime minister, José Sócrates, will face trial over a separate corruption scandal.
Ventura is good friends with Salvini and Wilders: extreme right on the rise
“If a party tells everyone that the elites are corrupt, and then the elites are actually corrupt, that can only play into the hands of the far right,” Manucci said.
Ventura clearly sees itself as part of an international right-wing extremist movement.
After Javier Milei won Argentina's November 2023 presidential election, Ventura posted on
He recently told the
Financial Times
that he considers Italian right-wing extremist Matteo Salvini to be a "very good friend" and that he has a "great relationship" with Dutch politician Geert Wilders.
The far-right Dutch Party for Freedom, headed by Wilders, took first place in November's election.
“I think we’re on the same page,” Ventura said.
"We are strong."
Portugal part of the pattern – European elections in the shadow of a potential shift to the right
Portugal is part of “the unfortunate pattern of the far right growing everywhere,” said Daphne Halikiopoulou, a professor of comparative politics at the University of York who studies far-right parties.
With European Parliament elections approaching, the large gains of the country's far-right parties - coupled with the growing momentum of similar parties across the continent - are seen as an indicator of political trends.
Across the continent, the political mood is characterized by anti-immigrant and populist slogans against the establishment and the rising cost of living.
According to Halikiopoulou, these parties are not only on the rise in many countries, but they are also becoming increasingly normalized.
In Europe, the extreme right is in power in Hungary and Italy;
it has participated in government coalitions in Finland and previously in Austria, and informally supports governments across the continent.
In Sweden, for example, the far-right Sweden Democrats are not officially part of the Moderate government coalition, but they are still involved in its legislation.
This normalization gives people who sympathize with far-right politics the moral and political support to vote for them.
“Many people who had certain attitudes and did not want to be stigmatized are now free,” Halikiopoulou said.
About the author
Emily Schultheis
is a freelance journalist in Berlin, where she writes about European elections and the rise of populism.
Twitter (X): @emilyrs
We are currently testing machine translations. This article was automatically translated from English into German.
This article was first published in English in the magazine “ForeignPolicy.com” on March 7, 2024 - as part of a cooperation, it is now also available in translation to readers of the IPPEN.MEDIA portals.