Neither of the groups considered to be the largest has been ready to cooperate with the extreme right.
In Portugal, the centre-right Democratic Alliance coalition won the parliamentary elections on Sunday.
With the counting of votes still in progress on Sunday evening, the centre-right was predicted to win from 83 to 91 seats in the 230-seat parliament. 69–77 seats were awarded to the socialist party, which had piloted the country for less than a decade.
The most significant rise was made by the far-right Chega party. The party seemed to more than triple its parliamentary seats and now get up to 46 seats, while it previously had only 12.
The elections were already heavily contested between the Socialist Party and the centre-right Democratic Alliance coalition. The biggest rise was predicted for the far-right Chega.
Neither of the groups that are considered to be the largest has been ready to cooperate with the extreme right, and Chega’s significant increase in support may make the formation of the future government complicated.
Portugal’s elections were held ahead of schedule in November, with the Socialist Prime Minister resigning Antonio Costa for departure. Costa’s departure was linked to a corruption scandal involving his chief of staff. Although Costa himself is not suspected of anything, he was not a candidate in the election.