Portugal’s incumbent Democratic Alliance, led by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, won the most votes in the May 18 general election but failed again to secure a parliamentary majority.
The Democratic Alliance won 86 seats out of the 230 seats in the National Assembly, falling short of the 116 needed for a majority. Montenegro said the results reflected the people’s vote of confidence for his party, which was recently ousted from minority government by the opposition in a no-confidence vote.
“We expect a sense of State, a sense of responsibility, respect for people and a spirit of coexistence in diversity but also of convergence and safeguarding the national interest,” he added.
Montenegro denied any wrongdoing.
The Democratic Alliance was in power for less than a year before being ousted. In the last general election, it captured 80 seats and governed as a minority government.
“The Portuguese don’t want any more snap elections, they want a four-year Legislature,” he said, to his supporters who were chanting his campaign slogan, “Let Luis work.”
“It does not seem to me that there is any other government solution other than the one that comes from the free, democratic, and convinced will of the Portuguese people,” he said.
The election’s second-place result remains uncertain due to the close vote margin between the Socialist Party and Chega. According to local reports, this can only be called after overseas ballots are counted.
“We still don’t know if we'll come in second or third place,” Pedro Pinto, Chega’s parliamentary bench leader, told reporters. “What we know is that the system is already shaking.”
Chega’s leader, Andre Ventura, said that his party made history by becoming the “second largest party” in parliament. The party secured 58 seats in parliament, up from 50 seats last year. Chega only had 18 percent of the vote in the previous election.
“We can officially and safely declare that bipartisanship is over,” Ventura told reporters.
Meanwhile, Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos announced on May 18 that he was stepping down as party leader and will call for internal elections.
For the past 50 years, political leadership in Portugal has primarily alternated between the Social Democrats and the Socialist Party. However, the last several years have seen momentum build toward the right.
This election, the Socialists were contemplating possibly their worst result since 1987, when they also won 58 seats.
