To hell with the elections | This isn't a presidential campaign, it's an episode of BBC Wildlife

Wednesday, 28 January 2026RSS
To hell with the elections | This isn't a presidential campaign, it's an episode of BBC Wildlife

André Ventura's presidential campaign was never serious, and it ended yesterday. The Chega leader knows he won't have the votes to become President, but he may pick up votes to win the legislative elections. He sniffed out the weakness of his prey. The prey is not Seguro, it's Montenegro. Ventura is therefore heading, against the tide, towards São Bento. Belém was only a refuelling stop.

Context & Explainers

Chega

Chega ("Enough") is a Portuguese far-right populist party founded in 2019 by André Ventura. It positions itself as an anti-establishment movement against what it calls a "rotten and corrupt system" of PS-PSD dominance. The party surged from 1.3% in 2019 to 22.8% in May 2025, becoming parliament's second-largest force with 60 seats. ​ Chega's core platform emphasizes strict immigration control—ending automatic CPLP residency, deporting non-independent immigrants, implementing job-market quotas, and requiring five-year social security contributions before benefit access. It advocates radical constitutional reform, including reducing parliament to 100 members, abolishing the prime minister position for a presidential system, and dismantling public healthcare. Law-and-order policies include life imprisonment and chemical castration proposals.

The party is defined by inflammatory anti-Romani rhetoric, with Ventura convicted multiple times for discrimination. Chega maintains international alignments with European far-right figures including Marine Le Pen, Santiago Abascal, and Matteo Salvini. Mainstream Portuguese parties, including Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's government, have imposed a cordon sanitaire, refusing coalition with Chega despite its parliamentary strength.

View full article on cnnportugal.iol.pt

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