Highlights: Portugal is heading to the polls for early legislative elections on Sunday March 10. For the first time in fifty years of democracy, a party… Chega, is about to play referee. Voters are perplexed and tired of scandals and accusations of corruption. These elections could mark a turning point, particularly three months before the European elections, say political scientists. According to polls, 16% of voters are undecided two days before the election, while usually, in legislative elections, one in two Portuguese voters does not go to the polling.

Portugal is heading to the polls for early legislative elections on Sunday March 10, after eight years of socialist government. While for the first time in fifty years of democracy, a party…

Legislative elections in Portugal: voters between weariness of corruption and fear of the far right

Portugal is heading to the polls for early legislative elections on Sunday March 10, after eight years of socialist government.

While for the first time in fifty years of democracy, a populist radical right party, Chega, is about to play referee, voters are perplexed and tired of scandals and accusations of corruption.

These elections could mark a turning point, particularly three months before the European elections.

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Supporters of the center-right Democratic Alliance coalition listen to speeches during the closing rally of the election campaign in Lisbon, Portugal, Friday, March 8, 2024. © Armando Franca / AP

By: RFI Follow

In the Saint-Vincent district of Lisbon, bad weather disrupted the celebrations for

the last hours of the campaign on Friday March 8

The leaders of the two major parties in the running - the Socialist Party (PS - left) and the Social Democratic Party (PSD - liberal right) exchanged barbs and increased calls for a useful vote, reports our correspondent in Lisbon,

Marie-Line Darcy

“

This election is very important because it can mark a turning point towards a certain convergence of Portugal with the panorama of parties in Europe

,” observes political scientist Marina Costa Lobo, director of the Institute of Social Sciences at the University of Lisbon ( ICS).

Three

months before the European elections

, this context is marked by “

a decline of social democracy, a strengthening of the right and, above all, a strengthening of the extreme right which imposes its conditions on the moderate right for the formation of the government

“, she told AFP.

Perplexed and unmotivated voters

None of them, even the PSD with its Democratic Alliance (AD),

should succeed in winning a majority

of the 230 deputies.

After the publication of the latest surveys, the Radio Renascença

poll aggregator

credited the AD with 32.3% of voting intentions, compared to 27.8% for the PS.

In ambush, the young far-right Chega party could achieve a new breakthrough and confirm its status as the third political force in the country, with 16.9% of the vote, after a score of 7.2% in the previous legislative elections.

Faced with this scenario, voters say they are perplexed and demotivated.

“

The problem is all these cases of corruption

,” explains Joaquim Duarte, referring to the

scandals that caused the fall of Antonio Costa's socialist power

, as well as a similar scandal in the autonomous region of Madeira, including the conservatives were the protagonists.

People

are demotivated, they are indecisive, people are fed up.
Many people are not going to vote, I know some around me.

According to polls

, 16% of voters are undecided two days before the election, while usually, in legislative elections, one in two Portuguese voters does not go to the polls.

📊New estimate as of 03/08/2024📷

Com #consulmark2 survey for @SolOnline and @euronews

AD: 32.3%🔻(-0.3)

PS: 27.8%🔻(-0.1)

CH: 16.8%🔼(+0.1)

IL: 5.4%🔼(+0.1)

BE: 4.5%🔼(+0.1)

L: 3.6%🔼(+0.1)

CDU: 2.7% 🟰

PAN: 1.3% 🟰#Legislativas2024 @Renascenca pic.twitter.com/WpQ3OEff6r

— Sondagem das Sondagens (@SondagensRR) March 8, 2024

The centrist right rules out any alliance with the far right

Some are worried about

the rise of Chega

: the radical and populist right party, which has the conditions to strengthen its place as Portugal's third political force and become kingmaker: "

I am afraid that in the future government, s “There is an agreement on the right with a party which calls into question our rights and freedoms, these must be called into question

,” worries Vania Gago.

Like Vania Gago, many feared that the centrist right, within the AD and

favorite in the latest polls

, would end up concluding a possible agreement with Chega: worrying for some, attractive for others, the populist party could constitute a group of more than 30 deputies in the Assembly.

But the leader of the centrist right Luis Montenegro has made the bet to refuse straight away to govern with the support of the far right, at the risk of finding himself in an impasse if he is not able to form a coalition majority without it: “

No, that’s no

,” he repeated throughout debates and interviews.

The Portuguese far right is driven by an anti-system discourse against corruption and minorities, as well as by “

a certain nostalgia

” for the dictatorial regime overthrown by the Carnation Revolution of April 1974, according to political scientist Marina Costa Lobo, director of the Institute of Social Sciences of the University of Lisbon (ICS).

Also read Early elections in Portugal: who benefits from the good health of the economy?

Legislative elections in Portugal: voters between weariness of corruption and fear of the far right

Legislative elections in Portugal: voters between weariness of corruption and fear of the far right

Perplexed and unmotivated voters

The centrist right rules out any alliance with the far right

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