Portugal's Center-Right Prepares To Rule After Slim Win

Portugal's center-right Democratic Alliance (AD) has won the general election by a slim margin and is preparing to govern without an outright majority as the far-right Chega party warned of instability if not included in the government, as reported by Patrícia Vicente Rua, Catarina Demony, and Elena Rodríguez for Reuters.

AD leader Luís 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. I Photo: Luís Montenegro

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 the latter to concede defeat.

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

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

AD 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.

The slim win over the Socialists does not guarantee that an AD government could rule for a long time.

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