With 99.1% of the vote counted, the AD won 79 seats in the 230-seat legislature, followed by the Socialists with 76 seats, prompting them to concede defeat.

Chega, meaning enough, came third, quadrupling its parliamentary representation to 48 lawmakers after campaigning on a clean governance and anti-immigration platform.

Chega voters said before the poll that the country was in a bad way and they wanted changes in housing, education, healthcare and justice in western Europe’s poorest country.

AD and Social Democrats leader Luis Montenegro told reporters on Sunday that he expected President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to formally invite him to form a government ahead of a March 15 deadline.

He said he hoped the PS and Chega would not form a negative alliance to prevent the government the Portuguese people wanted.

Chega’s leader Andre Ventura told reporters the vote clearly showed that the country wants a government of the AD with Chega.

Eurointelligence consultants said the result marked a new political chapter in Portugal after alternate governance by two mainstream parties for the past 50 years.

It said the AD would have to either seek the backing of Chega or the Socialists for a minority government, or invite them into a coalition.

“The Alliance excluded the first option on the campaign trail. The Socialists excluded the second option. Something will have to give,” they said.

The election result underscored a political tilt to the far right across Europe and a dwindling of Socialist governance.

Chega has since 2020 been part of the European Parliament’s Identity & Democracy group, which is expected to see gains in European elections in June.

Spain’s far-right VOX congratulated Ventura on social media platform X.

“Patriots are making their way in defence of freedom and sovereignty of nations against corrupt socialism and outdated bipartisanship,” it said.

Matteo Salvini, leader of Italy’s co-ruling League party hailed Chega’s “extraordinary result, alone against everyone”, in a statement late on Sunday.

Portugal’s PSI stock index fell 0.3% at open in line with a decline by European peers before flattening out.

“The impact of the elections on the market turned out to be nil and we can assume that it was a ‘non-event’ for the markets,” XTB market analysts said in a note.

“Even so, it’s important to realise that the fact that the AD doesn’t have a majority and needs to form coalitions with other parties in order to govern with a majority could be a risk factor if signs of instability start to appear again. In this scenario, we can’t rule out a negative reaction from the Portuguese stock market,” they added.

Under Socialist leadership since late 2015, Portugal has grown at solid annual rates above 2%, except for the pandemic-induced slump of 2020. It has posted budget surpluses lately, using the cash to slash public debt below 100% of GDP and winning praise from Brussels and investors.

L'articolo The eternal Iberian instability – As many have pointed out in recent days, another socialist era is coming to an end in another EU country. Portugal is heading for a period of internal political instability that could be resolved by an agreement between the conservatives and the Chega! extreme right (an alliance that the former ruled out during the election campaign). Whatever happens, no one seems to have the numbers to govern: the decisive factor will be the European elections, which could confirm the right-wing trend and plunge the country into a post-socialist period proviene da Bubble report.

Following the statements by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Portuguese Prime Minister quickly called a press conference. He said that he was not aware of any proceedings against him, but that in any case he was resigning in order to preserve the integrity of the office he holds. As far as I know, I’m not a defendant, I don’t know the files or the alleged acts,’ said Costa, who said he had not yet been served with an indictment, ‘but today I was surprised by the news, officially confirmed by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, that criminal proceedings have been or will be initiated against me. I am, of course, fully prepared to cooperate with the judicial system in whatever way it deems necessary to uncover the whole truth. But he immediately clarified: ‘The dignity of the office of Prime Minister is incompatible with the suspicion of having committed a criminal act, which is why I have, of course, submitted my resignation to the President of the Republic. Costa, who says he has a clear conscience and is waiting to learn more about what he is accused of, added that he would not wait until the end of the trial to return to politics: “I will not run for prime minister again. It is a phase of life that is over, criminal proceedings are rarely quick, so I would not wait for the conclusion of the criminal proceedings to draw another conclusion.

The judiciary has been investigating the government’s handling of green energy issues for some time. And in a statement it said that several members of the executive ‘are under investigation for crimes of corruption, malfeasance and influence peddling’. The prosecutor’s office has also obtained four telephone intercepts from 2020 in which the prime minister’s name is mentioned: this part of the investigation will have to be dealt with by the Supreme Court, which will open a separate file to carry out further checks on actual involvement. The investigation focuses on public investments in the energy sector, namely the green hydrogen project in Sines and the lithium project in Montalegre, in the north of the country, where one of the largest deposits in Europe has been discovered.

L'articolo Another one bites the dust – António Costa becomes the latest socialist victim: swept up in a massive scandal over green funds involving his infrastructure minister, João Galamba. All eyes are now on Chega (“Enough”): the Portoguese far-right party which, with 15% of the vote in the polls, could be the biggest beneficiary of the scandal proviene da Bubble report.