Although somewhat overshadowed this week by the election of a new pope in Rome, Portugal’s politicians are campaigning for votes in the national election taking place on Sunday, 18 May.
There is an inevitability in the national election in that most votes will go to the two centrist parties: the centre-right AD Democratic Alliance, headed by the PSD Social Democrats, and the centre-left PS Socialists.
The centrists have dominated Portuguese politics since the 1974 revolution that replaced dictatorship with democracy.
Opinion polls currently suggest the centre-right is ahead by almost six points, about 33% to 27%. The far-right Chega Party trails at a little over 17%.
The present minority government, led by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, was sworn in just over a year ago. It formed a coalition with the PSD Social Democrats and the CDS People’s Party. This coalition was not expected to last long.
Allegations against Prime Minister Montenegro about a conflict of interest involving his family’s business sparked a scandal. Montenegro denied the allegations but lost a parliamentary confidence vote and was obliged to call a snap election. It is the third snap election in recent years because of corruption scandals. The most recent one brought down the Socialist government of António Costa.
These events have fuelled much public dissatisfaction with the political class. A total of more than 10,850,000 are registered to take part in next Sunday’s ballot, but a low turnout would not be surprising.
Criticism by the present government of Israel’s worsening war in Gaza, and its strong appeal to India and Pakistan to reduce tensions and quickly enter into a process of dialogue, may influence a number of voters next week.
The leader of the Socialists, Pedro Nuno Santos, said this week he will seek “a solution for political stability in Portugal.”
A Portuguese Gypsy community this week accused the leader of the right-wing Chega Party of being “racist”, and appealed to him to stop encouraging hatred against them. Chega’s leader, André Ventura, responded by saying, “they have to work and comply with the rules.”
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