Portugal’s center-right wins an election but surging populists want a say in the government
Portugal’s center-right wins an election but surging populists want a say in the government
A center-right alliance led by the Social Democratic Party has won Portugal’s general election by a slender margin.
A center-right alliance led by the Social Democratic Party has won Portugal’s general election by a slender margin and is set to form a minority government that could have a difficult term in office as a radical-right populist party that came third in the voting tries to get a hand on the levers of power.
Results published late Wednesday after votes from abroad were counted to decide the last four lawmakers from the March 10 balloting gave the Democratic Alliance a final tally of 80 seats in the 230-seat National Assembly, Portugal’s parliament.
Social democrats are considered center-right? Interesting.
2Yeah, the name's sort-of left over from the post-revolution era. They used to be social democrats, then moved pretty quickly to the right, especially after all the liberals gravitated towards it in the 80s
4They are center right and in some cases not so center
Our “socialist party” is center left. Again the name isn’t 100% correct
1Just interesting how parties can migrate over time I guess. A little is not surprising but my understanding is that social democrats were originally born from the socialist movement so they had to cover a lot of ground to get all the way to center right.
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This is the best summary I could come up with:
Results published late Wednesday after votes from abroad were counted to decide the last four lawmakers from the March 10 balloting gave the Democratic Alliance a final tally of 80 seats in the 230-seat National Assembly, Portugal’s parliament.
The center-left Socialist Party placed second with 78 seats and has said it won’t stand in the way of the Democratic Alliance forming a minority government in an upcoming parliamentary vote.
Chega leader Andre Ventura is demanding that the Social Democrats give his party a say in governing the country, either through granting it seats in the Cabinet or through a parliamentary alliance.
Ventura, the populist leader, has threatened to make life difficult for the new government in key votes, such as the state budget, unless Montenegro yields to his demands.
Ventura says he is prepared to drop some of his party’s most controversial proposals -– such as chemical castration for some sex offenders and the introduction of life prison sentences — if that opens the door to power.
Low wages and a high cost of living — worsened last year by surges in inflation and interest rates — along with a housing crisis and failings in public health care contributed to a mood of disaffection with mainstream parties.
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