Portugal election: former sports commentator Andre Ventura is running

Friday marks the last day of campaigning for this Sunday's Portuguese parliamentary elections.

All eyes are on the far-right party Chega (Enough) and the unprecedented role it could play in national politics, even if it remains only the third-largest force in parliament.

Its leader, Andre Ventura, is a former councilor of the centre-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) and a former apprentice priest who made a name for himself with his national television commentary on football, and a social activist who has criticized corruption and record immigration. It has become the focus of a viral campaign in the media. .

First elected to the Diet in 2019, he has proven his agility and has helped expand Chega's reach rather than undermine its credibility through drastic policy changes.

In the criminal justice field, he once called for the chemical castration of rapists, but now he poses as an advocate for police officers who demonstrate for better pay. Mr Chega had called for a near-total state withdrawal in education and health, but now he is proposing more modest reforms, while promising to raise pensions.

Sunday's snap election was called after Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa resigned amid an investigation into state contract fraud, giving Ventura further ammunition for his campaign.

Another scandal in Madeira has brought down the PSD regional government and made Mr Ventura's old party appear to be part of the problem.

Opinion polls from Sunday's election show that the PSD-dominated Democratic Alliance (AD) has a narrow lead over the Socialist Party (PS), but even with the smaller Liberal Initiative (IL) it still lacks a parliamentary majority. not reached.

Chega maintains an approval rating of over 16% (up from 7% in the 2022 parliamentary elections) and is focused on what the minority AD government must do to retain power.

Asked if he would seek Chega's support for AD's program of income tax cuts and free market reforms, PSD leader Luis Montenegro reiterated, “No means no.”

When he confronted Ventura directly on television, he dismissed his opponent as “xenophobic, racist and demagogue.”

However, if the minority AD government survives until October, it may be forced to rely on Chega.

“When the government presents its budget, it negotiates with all parliamentary parties,” said Ana Sa López, senior political journalist at Publico newspaper. “He'll give Chega something, but I don't know what it is.”

In fact, if the Socialist Party, currently led by Pedro Nuno Santos, an energetic former cabinet minister under Costa, becomes the largest party after eight years in power, there is a possibility of renewed support for Chega. be.

“If the PSD doesn't win, one of my nightmares is that the two main parties in France will disappear,” said Ana Sa López, recalling how France's far right emerged as the main opposition party. Ta.

“We are afraid of the French scenario, but we have to prepare for it.”

José Peralta, a hotel receptionist in downtown Lisbon, was taking a break while watching flag-waving campaigners come and go, wondering how many voters felt about the government's scandals and the current state of the country. Summarized.

“There are a lot of people making money on the side, but Portugal can't progress like that,” he said.

“Chega may only be saying what people want to hear, but while what they are saying remains true, the parties that have been in power so far have not addressed the issues and people have I don't like to discuss it.”

Portugal's economy grew by 2.3% last year, faster than most European Union countries, and inflation has fallen sharply. But real incomes have been slow to return to pre-pandemic levels.

Mr. Costa came to power in 2015 with the support of far-left parties and criticized the austerity measures imposed by the previous PSD-led government under a eurozone bailout called for when investors shunned Portugal's debt. “I will turn this around,” he promised.

Then, until and after the coronavirus outbreak, a tourism boom drove the economic recovery, but a side effect was soaring rent and real estate prices.

The PS government continued its predecessor's efforts to reduce debt, losing support from the far left in the process, but secured re-election with a majority in the 2022 re-election.

Credit rating agencies that once classified Portugal's debt as “junk” now give it an “A” rating, but the spending squeeze that made this possible has led to employment problems and a wave of public sector strikes. This is a contributing factor.

“Although there is no shortage of doctors in Portugal, there is a shortage of doctors in the National Health Service, and 1.7 million people still do not have a family doctor, resulting in delays in hospital appointments and surgeries,” FNAM Doctors Union emphasized. This week, in the latest broadside against the government.

A total of 10.8 million people are registered to vote in Portugal and abroad for the elections to elect 230 members of parliament.