PM seeks win in Portugal elections

LISBON

Portugal's general election campaign ended on May 16 for a vote that Prime Minister Luis Montenegro is expected to win, but with no guarantee he can form a more stable government.

Montenegro's center-right Democratic Alliance (AD) is tipped to win 34 percent of the vote, ahead of the Socialist Party (PS) on 26 percent, according to a poll by the Portuguese Catholic University published by local media on May 16.

The recently formed far-right Chega ("Enough") party could take 19 percent of the vote, almost the same as it did in March 2024 elections, to consolidate its position as Portugal's third political force.

Montenegro as a result risks finding himself again at the head of a minority government, caught between the PS, which was in power from 2015 to 2024, and Chega, with which he has refused to govern.

May 18's election was called in March after the 52-year-old lawyer lost a vote of confidence in parliament following accusations against him of conflicts of interest stemming from his consulting firm's business.

As such, "staying in power would already be a good result" for the prime minister, who took a "calculated risk" in the hope of strengthening his parliamentary seat, political commentator Paula Espirito Santo told AFP.

Opinion polls appear to indicate an AD majority is unlikely but Montenegro could win the support of the Liberal Initiative party, which is predicted to secure 6.4 percent of the vote.

"What we want is a bigger majority," said Montenegro on May 16.

The socialist candidate Pedro Nuno Santos, a 48-year-old economist, has again accused Montenegro of having engineered elections "to avoid explaining himself" about his consultancy firm to a parliamentary inquiry.