The far-right party „Chega“ performed below expectations in Sunday's local elections in Portugal and failed to win any of the major cities, local media reported, News.bg reports.
André Ventura's party managed to win mayoral posts only in Entroncamento, Albufeira and São Vicente. However, „Chega“ doubled its support compared to the 2021 elections and is expected to play the role of „balancer“ in several municipalities.
“It was a good night, but we didn“t achieve our goals“, Ventura admitted after the results were announced.
For the Socialist Party, the election night was disappointing in the two largest cities. In Lisbon, the Socialist candidate Alexandra Leitan failed to unseat the incumbent centrist mayor Carlos Moedas, while in Porto, the conservative Pedro Duarte defeated the Socialist candidate and former MEP Manuel Pizarro.
In Faro, the capital of the Algarve region, the socialist António Pina emerged victorious, while in Sintra, the country's second most populous city, the mayoral post was won by the center-right candidate Marco Almeida. There, the far-right influencer Rita Matias from “Chega” came in third.
The housing crisis was a major issue in the election, with voters demanding that local authorities take more decisive action against high housing and rent prices.
These local elections were among the most contested in Portugal's history. Almost half of the 308 municipalities had no incumbent mayor, as many of them ran for national office. “Chega“ was the party with the largest participation, fielding candidates in 307 municipalities. Analysts said the poor result showed that the party performs worse when its charismatic leader Ventura is not on the ballot.
The elections were held with low voter turnout – between 43 and 48 percent of citizens did not vote, amid political fatigue after three national votes and European Parliament elections in 2023.
The Portuguese will soon return to the polls - in January, a presidential election will be held to choose a successor to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. The main candidates include André Ventura and Admiral Henrique Gouveia e Mello, respected for his leadership of the Covid-19 vaccination campaign but controversial for his military background.