driven by an anti-system speech, the far right could make a breakthrough in the legislative elections

The Portuguese vote on Sunday for the legislative elections. Behind the neck-and-neck socialist and center-right parties, the far right could follow the same trajectory as other European far-right parties.

With its anti-corruption and anti-immigration program, the Chega party could win many seats in the legislative elections on Sunday March 10. Its name in Portuguese means “Enough”. It is therefore on the rejection, the opposition to traditional politics, which experienced a scandal last November, that the far right of the country has made its nest. This party is embodied by MP André Ventura, who relies on a speech that is gaining ground almost everywhere on the planet.

This anti-system discourse, a bit of a catch-all, is progressing in all Western democracies. For the Portuguese Chega party, the shift took place in 2020, with membership in the “Identity and Democracy” movement, in which we find the Germans of the AfD, the Italian Liga, the French RN, the Austrians, the Danes, Estonians. Even if everyone draws a little on the most fertile theme to mobilize opinion in their country (abortion, climate, gender, etc.). These far-right leaders always manage to find themselves around this principle of the anti-system. They were also able to share their ideas during a dinner organized in Lisbon in November 2023.

The international extreme right community

André Ventura, the leader of Chega also openly shares the ideas of one of the icons of the anti-system: Jair Bolsonaro. The former Brazilian president recently sent a video of support for the Portuguese far-right candidate. Like Bolsonaro, elected in Brazil in 2018 in particular thanks to his anti-corruption speech directed against Lula and his party, André Ventura relies on the same source and the same target: “If Chega wins the legislative elections, I guarantee you one thing, it is that the President of Brazil Lula da Silva will not enter Portugal!he proclaims. We have enough corrupt people here not to welcome more from abroad!”

At the heart of this international movement of the populist right, the main element is missing, the leader who would unite this entire community: Donald Trump. According to US Senator Bernie Sanders: “If Trump wins, it won’t just be a disaster for Americans, he will support far-right governments and movementshe warns, this is the meaning of their international effort. Democracy is under attack, not just here but across Europe and elsewhere !” Donald Trump, from whom candidate André Ventura has already largely drawn inspiration, to call into question the reliability of the Portuguese electoral system.