PM seeks election win as Portugal campaigning ends

Lisbon: Waving colourful flags, hundreds of campaigners took to Lisbon’s streets on Friday ahead of Portugal’s weekend general election that Prime Minister Luis Montenegro is expected to win, but with no guarantee he can form a more stable government.

Support for his centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) has inched up in the final days of the campaign to hit 34 percent, against 26 percent for the Socialist Party (PS), according to a poll by Portugal’s prestigious Catholic University published by local media on Friday.

The upstart far-right Chega (“Enough”) party could take 19 percent of the vote — almost the same as it did in March 2024 elections — to consolidate its position as Portugal’s third political force and kingmaker.

Montenegro, as a result, risks finding himself again at the head of a minority government, caught between the PS, in power from 2015 to 2024, and Chega, with which he has refused to govern.

The premier, a 52-year-old lawyer, urged voters to give him a stronger mandate this time around during a final rally in central Lisbon, where supporters carried him on their shoulders as he flashed a “V for victory” sign with his fingers.

“People are fed up with elections, people want stability,” he told reporters, surrounded by supporters carrying balloons and flags in the AD’s white and orange colours.

Sunday’s early election will be Portugal’s third in just over three years.

It was called in March after Montenegro lost a confidence vote in parliament following accusations of conflicts of interest stemming from his consulting firm’s business.

As such, “staying in power would already be a good result” for the prime minister, who took a “calculated risk” in the hope of strengthening his parliamentary seat, political commentator Paula Espirito Santo said.

Opinion polls appear to indicate an AD majority is unlikely but Montenegro could win the support of the Liberal Initiative party, which is predicted to secure 6.4 percent of the vote.

The PS candidate, Pedro Nuno Santos, a 48-year-old economist, has accused Montenegro of having engineered the elections “to avoid explaining himself” about his consultancy firm to a parliamentary inquiry.

Wearing a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up, he told journalists at his party’s final Lisbon street rally that only the PS could provide the “safe change” the country needs, surrounded by chanting supporters waving red and white party flags.

Faced with the risk of persistent instability, analysts and voters criticised a political class out of touch with voters who are unenthused by the prospect of another ballot.

“I’ve really had enough of all these political games. They don’t do anything for us,” said Maria Pereira, a 53-year-old saleswoman in a working-class district of Lisbon.

“Normally I vote for the small parties but this time I’m not going to waste my time going to vote.”

But Paula Tomas, a 52-year-old dentist, said Montenegro had won her confidence.

“He has the ability to get things done, but he needs time,” she said at an AD rally.

Under the Socialist Party, Portugal became one of Europe’s most open countries but Montenegro’s government has since strengthened immigration policy.

Between 2017 and 2024, the number of foreigners living in Portugal quadrupled, reaching about 15 percent of the total population.

Immigration and suspicions about the prime minister might be fertile ground for the far right.

But Chega has also faced embarrassment, including claims that one of its lawmakers in the Azores stole luggage from airport carousels.

Its campaign was interrupted on Tuesday and Thursday when its president, 42-year-old former football commentator Andre Ventura, fell ill while campaigning and was rushed to hospital both times.

He was not scheduled to appear on Friday but released a video message where he once again called for “an end to corruption and uncontrolled immigration”.