© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Andre Ventura, President of far-right party Chega, gestures during an interview with Reuters, in Lisbon, Portugal, January 25, 2024. REUTERS/Pedro Nunes/File Photo
LISBON (Reuters) – Portugal’s far-right Chega party jumped to 21% of voting intentions in a new opinion poll ahead of a March 10 snap election, closing in on the mainstream centre-left and centre-right parties, whose support has stagnated.
A survey by ISCTE-ICS pollsters for SIC TV and newspaper Expresso, published late on Thursday, showed the centre-left Socialist Party (PS) leading on 29%, but with a slim chance of staying in power as parliament would be controlled by a right-wing majority.
It was closely followed by the recently created Aliança Democratica (AD) – a coalition between the centre-right Social Democrats and the conservative CDS-PP – on 27%.
The populist, anti-establishment Chega, which promises to fight corruption and uses the slogan “Portugal needs a clean-up”, gained six percentage points to exceed the 20% mark for the first time in a poll.
Growing support for Chega mirrors similar moves in other European countries, where nationalist and far-right parties are courting voters with pledges to toughen immigration rules and soften EU climate policies.
Far-right parties, including Marine Le Pen’s National Rally in France, Matteo Salvini’s League in Italy and the Alternative for Germany (AfD), are expected to prosper in June’s European Union election.
Chega’s leader Andre Ventura told Reuters last week his party would demand to be part of a right-wing coalition government in exchange for parliamentary support.
All Portugal’s right-wing parties combined, including the pro-business Liberal Initiative with 3% support, account for 53% of voting intentions.
However, the PSD leader Luis Montenegro has previously ruled out an agreement with Chega, adding to political uncertainly.
Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa resigned on Nov. 7 over an investigation into alleged illegalities in his government’s handling of large green investment projects, triggering the snap election. He has denied any wrongdoing.
In mid-December, Costa was replaced by 46-year-old former infrastructure minister Pedro Nuno Santos as PS leader.
ISCTE-ICS surveyed 804 people on Jan. 16-25, with a margin of error of 3.5%.
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