LISBON
\nVoters in Portugal went to the polls Sunday in an early election that could see the country join a shift to the right across Europe after eight years of Socialist rule. Final opinion polls published Friday show the centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) narrowly ahead of the Socialist Party (PS) but short of an outright majority in parliament, which could make the far-right party Chega a kingmaker for forming a governing coalition.
\nBut analysts warned the results of the election, Portugal\u2019s second in two years, remained wide open given the large number of undecided voters. Voting stations in the nation of around 10 million people opened at 8:00 am (0800 GMT) with exit poll projections expected at 8:00 pm.
\n\u201cThese elections represent a possible change, there would be little point in doing otherwise,\u201d PedrResende, a 56-year-old security officer, told media at a polling station in Telheiras, a modern upper middle class neighbourhood in northern Lisbon. The AD has campaigned on promises to boost economic growth by cutting taxes, and to improve the country\u2019s public services.
\n\u201cWe really must turn the page,\u201d the party\u2019s leader, 51-year-old lawyer Luis Montenegro told a packed final rally at Lisbon\u2019s bullring on Friday night. He has ruled out any post-election agreement with Chega, but other top AD officials have been more ambiguous. Analysts say a deal with the anti-establishment party may prove the only way for the AD to govern.
\nFar right gains -Chega\u2019s leader Andre Ventura, a former trainee priest who went on to become a television football commentator, has said his party is \u201cas legitimate as the others\u201d. Chega, which means \u201cEnough\u201d, calls for tougher measures to fight corruption, stricter controls over immigration and chemical castration for some sex offenders.
\nJust five years old, Chega picked up its first seat in Portugal\u2019s 230-seat parliament in 2019, becoming the first far-right party to win representation in the assembly since a military coup in 1974 toppled a decades-long right-wing dictatorship.It increased its seats to 12 seats in 2022 and polls suggest it could more than double that number this time.
\nThat would mirror gains by far-right parties across Europe, where they already govern — often in coalition — in countries such as Italy, Hungary and Slovakia, or are steadily gaining, as in France and Germany. The election was called after Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa, 62, unexpectedly resigned in November following an influence-peddling probe that involved a search of his official residence and the arrest of his chief of staff.
\nThough Costa himself was not accused of any crime, he decided not to run again. – \u2018Time for a change\u2019 -On his watch unemployment has dropped, the economy expanded by 2.3 percent last year — one of the fastest rates in the eurozone — and public finances have improved.
\nBut surveys indicate many voters feel Costa\u2019s government squandered the outright majority it won in 2022 by failing to improve unreliable public health services and education or address a housing crisis that has sparked large street protests in what remains one of Western Europe\u2019s poorest countries.
\n\u201cFrom my point of view things have worsened a bit. It\u2019s time for a change,\u201d Bernardo Guerra, a 28-year-old personal trainer, told media after casting his ballot at a high school in central Lisbon. \u201cIn Portugal there is a lot of corruption, Portugal has a bad image abroad… I hope a new government improves this situation.\u201d
\nThe Socialists\u2019 new leader, 46-year-old former infrastructure minister Pedro Nuno Santos, has defended the government\u2019s record even as he acknowledges it could have done better in some areas. \u201cThe right thinks they\u2019re going to win the election with their usual arrogance and lack of humility. It\u2019s the Portuguese people who will decide,\u201d he said at his final rally on Friday night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LISBON Voters in Portugal went to the polls Sunday in an early election that could see the country join a shift to the right across Europe after eight years of Socialist rule. Final opinion polls published Friday show the centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) narrowly ahead of the Socialist Party (PS) but short of an outright […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":392829,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-392821","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n