The PSD/CDS coalition won Sunday’s national legislative elections, increasing its number of seats by 10. Chega also increased its parliamentary group by 10 seats, while the PS lost 19.
PSD president Luís Montenegro spoke of an “unequivocal” vote of confidence and called on the opposition to act responsibly.
“The people want this prime minister and no other; the people want this government to engage in dialogue with the opposition, but the people also want the opposition to respect and engage in dialogue with this government and this prime minister,” he said.
The PS secretary-general, Pedro Nuno Santos, announced that he had called for internal elections in which he would not stand for re-election, but argued that it should not be up to the PS to support the government.
“I will step down as secretary-general as soon as I can, if I can do so now, for the simple reason that the party will have to make very important decisions about the relationship it will have with the next government,” he said.
The president of Chega, André Ventura, declared himself “leader of the opposition,” claiming that the party had become the second largest. “We can officially and confidently declare that the two-party system is over,” he said.
André Ventura stressed that Chega “made history” and assured that “nothing will remain as before.” “We have swept the country with a historic vote everywhere,” he said, adding, ‘ Chega is the future of the government.’

With the results from overseas constituencies still counted, the PSD and CDS-PP have 89 seats (86 from the national coalition and three from the Azores coalition, including the PPM). With 32.10% of the votes (plus 0.62% from the Azores), the coalition came in first place and won 10 more seats than in 2024, but fell short of the 116 needed to achieve an absolute majority. An alliance with the IL would not be enough to achieve this goal.
However, adding together the votes of the coalition, the IL, and Chega, the right wing has two-thirds of the seats (156).
Currently, the PS and Chega are tied in seats (58), but the results from the European and non-European constituencies have yet to be determined and will only be known on May 28.
Suppose the results of 2024 are repeated, in which Chega elected two deputies, PS one, and the coalition one. In that case, the party led by André Ventura will be the second political force in the national Parliament.
The PS was one of the night’s losers, achieving its third worst result in legislative elections. With 23.38% of the vote, the party only managed to win the district of Évora, electing 19 fewer MPs than in 2024.
In contrast, Chega, which had only won the elections in Faro a year ago, also won Beja, Setúbal, and Portalegre this year. The party secured 22.56% of the votes and 58 deputies nationwide, 10 more than a year ago.
The Liberal Initiative received 5.53% of the votes and gained one more deputy, for a total of nine. Livre also increased its parliamentary group from four to six deputies, with 4.20% of the votes.
The CDU and Bloco de Esquerda performed worse than in 2024. The coalition between the PCP and PEV lost one deputy, going from four to three, with 3.03% of the votes.
With 2% of the votes, the BE became a single representative from a parliamentary group of five deputies, electing only its coordinator, Mariana Mortágua.
The PAN maintains its parliamentary representation with 1.36% of the votes, and the JPP makes its debut in the Assembly of the Republic with Filipe Sousa, elected in Madeira with 0.34% of the votes nationwide.

In Diário Insular, José Lourenço-director

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