The date of another election for the Assembly of the Republic is approaching, and many fear that it could result in greater instability. Some even believe that new elections will have to be held in the near future.

Polls show that citizens did not want these elections, did not fully understand the reasons behind them, and feared that the results would bring greater instability and damage the economy.

Looking at the graphs of last year’s election results, held on March 10, the AD won the elections, but as has been proven, in a very unstable scenario.

In the 2024 election, the PSD, CDS, and PPM formed the Democratic Alliance (AD) coalition in the Azores; in Madeira, the PSD and CDS ran for the Madeira First (MP) coalition. In the overall and national results, the deputies elected by these coalitions were assigned to the PSD, and the votes were distributed between the PSD and CDS in a ratio of 80/20.

Twenty political forces, 18 parties, and two coalitions will run at the national level in the upcoming elections on May 18. These are AD (PSD/CDS-PP), PS, Chega, Iniciativa Liberal, BE, CDU (PCP/PEV), Livre, PAN, PPM, JPP, Ergue-te, ADN, PCTP/MRPP, Volt Portugal, Nós, Cidadãos!, Nova Direita, RIR, MPT, PTP, and Partido Liberal Social.

In the Azores, there will be 10 parties and two coalitions

Candidates from the Azores

CHEGA, Miguel António Taveira Franco Sousa Arruda, José Macedo Rodrigues Bernardo, and Ana Maria Lourenço Martins; E – Ergue-te, Roque Manuel da Silva Gaio e Melo de Almeida; PCP – PEV – CDU – Coligação Democrática Unitária, Maria Judite Pimentel Barros da Costa; B.E. – Left Bloc, Joana Prenda Bettencourt; IL – Liberal Initiative, José Luís Pires Parreira; PS – Socialist Party, Francisco Miguel Vital Gomes do Vale César, Sérgio Humberto Rocha de Ávila, and Isabel Maria Duarte de Almeida Rodrigues; PPD/PSD.CDS-PP. PPM – ALIANÇA DEMOCRÁTICA, Paulo Alexandre Luís Botelho Moniz, Francisco José Duarte Pimentel and Ilídia Maria da Silva Fialho Quadrado; JPP – Juntos pelo Povo, Mário Rui Farias Pacheco; ADN – ALTERNATIVA DEMOCRÁTICA NACIONAL, Rui Jorge de Sousa Matos; R.I.R. – React, Include, Recycle, João Pedro Braz de Timóteo Henriques; VP – Volt Portugal, Dino de Sousa Castelo Branco; L – LIVRE, José Manuel Viegas de Oliveira Neto Azevedo.

From Rafael Cota (journalist)

We thank the journalist Rafael Cota from the Azores for this excellent piece on the upcoming elections in Portugal, focusing on the Azores.

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance) at California State University, Fresno, PBBI thanks Luso Financial for sponsoring NOVIDADES.