Lisbon municipal deputies from Chega pull the rug from under Bruno Mascarenhas: "We do not identify with nor were we consulted on the nominations"

Tuesday, 17 March 2026RSS
Lisbon municipal deputies from Chega pull the rug from under Bruno Mascarenhas: "We do not identify with nor were we consulted on the nominations"

At the Lisbon Municipal Assembly meeting, Chega deputies stated that the good result in the local elections increased the “probability” that they had “erred” in the “choice of some members”. Councillor Bruno Mascarenhas is not present at the session.

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.

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