Tag Archive for: socialists

Local-elections

Driving issues in the local elections were housing, public health and education

Portugal’s far-right, xenophobic, nationalist and biggest party in the country Chega (‘Enough’) – defending the reduction of state intervention in the economy, promoting stricter immigration, supporting chemical castration for child abusers and incessantly attacking the Roma population – has won its first three mayoral seats in municipal elections on Sunday, the 12th of October.
But fell well short of expectations as its vote share halved from Parliamentary elections in May.

Of the merely three municipalities it captured, it won 49% of the vote in São Vicente (Madeira), 40,5% in Albufeira (Algarve) – which its leader André Ventura has called ‘the party’s stronghold’, and the springboard for Portugal’s ‘conquest’ by the far right – and 37% in Entroncamento (Tagus Valley).

The ruling centre-right Social Democratic party (PSD) – focusing on liberalising the economy and associated with conservative values – won the largest share of mayoral races, capturing 136, including the country’s five biggest cities – Lisbon, Porto, Gaia, Sintra and Cascais – up from 114 four years ago.

Together with the more conservative Christian Democratic party (CDS) – with six elected mayors on his own list – it has formed the Democratic Alliance (AD), which is governing the country since last spring.

The PSD ‘victory’ also means the party wins control of both national municipal associations, ANAFRE – the association of parish councils – and ANMP, the association of municipalities, which fell to PS Socialists over a decade ago.

‘This is very relevant’, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro declared. ‘The party now has more parish council presidents, more city council presidents and achieved historic victories in the country’s five largest municipalities, while leading the two autonomous regions (Azores and Madeira) and having a majority in parliament.’

Its centre-left Socialist (PS ) rivals – defending State intervention in the economy to improve social justice – won 128 (22 down compared to four years ago) of the total of 308 municipalities in the country and is no longer the most voted party in the local elections. But the party is pleased, for reversing the awful general elections result of last May.

Voters in Lisbon returned to the incumbent mayor – Carlos Moedas, heading a centre-right coalition – less than six weeks after a deadly funicular crash that killed 16 people, including 11 tourists, and caused a national outcry. Moedas, a rising star in the PSD, has rejected blame for the 3 September accident – most likely a break in the cable linking the two carriages – and refused to resign.
He scored 42% against 34% for the Socialist (PS) candidate Alexandra Leitão.

After three national elections in the past two years, Portuguese voters will again return to the polls next January for a presidential vote.

Enjoy your week         Aproveite a sua semana      (Pic Público/Sapo)


/by

Rightish

Centre-right wins election as far-right makes record gains

Portugal’s centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) has won the country’s third parliamentary election in three years as the underperforming socialists were left for second place, together with the far-right party Chega (meaning ‘Enough’).

Luís Montenegro, the leader of the AD – that has governed the country since its narrow victory last year – won 32.7% of the vote, taking 89 seats in the country’s 230-seat parliament, leaving it far of the 116 needed for a majority.
The Socialist Party (PS) took 23.4% of the vote to Chega’s 22.6%, tiding the two on 58 seats each.

Votes from abroad, which are to be counted in the coming days, can still put Chega ahead of the Socialist party, which would be the first time in almost forty years that the Socialists do not finish in the top two. In the last election, held 14 months ago, the AD won 80 seats, PS 78 and Chega – led by the former TV football pundit André Ventura – increased its seat count from 12 to 50 in Parliament.

For now, Chega’s delight will be tempered by Montenegro’s explicit refusal to strike any deals with Ventura’s party. ‘Governing with Chega is impossible for three reasons’, the prime minister previously stated. ‘It isn’t reliable in its thinking; it behaves like a political weathervane, always changing its mind, and it’s not suited to the exercise of government.’

The early election was triggered in March after Prime Minister Montenegro used a confidence vote in his minority government to try to head off growing scrutiny questions over his family business activities he founded in 2021 and which he transferred to his wife and sons the following year. But as he failed to win the confidence in Parliament a new election became inevitable.

In the international press terms such as ‘triumph of the conservatives ‘and ‘conservative legislature’ are used to underline the outcome of the ballots.

The British newspaper The Guardian emphasizes the record results of the right and puts into context the emergence of the Chega party, which has grown the most in terms of the number of MP’s. In Spain, El Pais refers to the ‘revolution that took place’ in Portugal which ended with the resignation of the leader of the Socialist Party Pedro Nuno Santos.   

The French paper Le Monde also mentions the ‘major defeat’ of the Socialist Party and the ‘explosive growth’ of Chega. The paper highlights above all ‘the tightening of the migration policy, previously one of the most flexible in Europe under António’s Costa Socialist government. According to Italy’s La Republica, ‘the ultra-right flies, socialists fall’ and Brazil’s Folha de São Paulo reports the re-election of the Prime Minister and ‘sees ultra-right equal socialist seats in left-wing collapse.’  

Enjoy the week            Approveite a semana               (pic Público/Sapo)


/by