Due to his narrow victory in the legislative elections on March 10, he will have to form a minority government and deal with a clearly growing far right.
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He succeeds the socialist Antonio Costa, in power since the end of 2015. The leader of the center right, Luis Montenegro, was appointed Prime Minister of Portugal on the night of Wednesday March 20 to Thursday March 21. Due to his narrow victory in the legislative elections on March 10, this 51-year-old trained lawyer and seasoned parliamentarian will, however, have to form a minority government and deal with a clearly growing far right.
The candidate of the Democratic Alliance (AD) will present the composition of his government next Wednesday, and it should take office on April 2, he explained to the press during a brief statement at the end. of a meeting with the President of the Republic, the conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. According to the full results announced at the same time, which made it possible to allocate the four seats in the foreign constituencies, the AD won the elections with a very narrow lead over the Socialist Party (PS).
The far right, third political force
Luis Montenegro’s party received 28.8% of the vote and 80 deputies out of a total of 230. It will therefore remain far from the threshold of 116 elected representatives, synonymous with an absolute majority, but its head of the list had already said he was ready to form a minority government. Surprised by the resignation of outgoing Prime Minister Antonio Costa, who did not seek a new mandate after being cited in an investigation for influence peddling, the PS finished second with 28% of the votes and 78 seats.
The Portuguese far-right party, Chega, for its part, has clearly strengthened its status as the third political force in the country, going from 12 to 50 deputies, with a score of 18.1%. Its president, André Ventura, reaffirmed Monday his desire to reach an agreement with the moderate right to form a stable majority, without necessarily entering the government, and while threatening to oppose it if it refused to open negotiations. Luis Montenegro, however, repeated after his electoral victory that he would refuse to lead the country with the support of the far right.
