Parliamentary parties submitted 2,847 amendment proposals to the 2027 State Budget (Orçamento do Estado), setting a new all-time high. The Socialist Party (Partido Socialista or PS) proposed freezing corporate tax (Imposto sobre o Rendimento das Pessoas Coletivas or IRC) cuts to lower the fuel tax (Imposto sobre Produtos Petrolíferos or ISP) and cancel sales tax on essential food. Chega submitted around 600 amendments including a freeze on the retirement age, while the Liberal Initiative (Iniciativa Liberal or IL) sought personal income tax reductions.
Parties Submit Record 2,847 State Budget Amendments
Friday, 6 November 2026AI summary
Context & Explainers
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.
- Leader: Mariana Leitão (since July 2025)
- Ideology: Classical liberalism, economic libertarianism
Founded in 2017, the Liberal Initiative advocates for reduced state intervention, tax simplification, labor market liberalization, and secular liberalism under the motto "Less State, More Freedom". The party gained its first parliamentary seat in 2019 and now holds 9 seats. Mariana Leitão, 42, became the party's first female leader in July 2025 after Rui Rocha resigned following disappointing 2025 election results. Leitão previously served as parliamentary leader and has been announced as the party's candidate for the 2026 presidential election. The party explicitly rejects alliances with both far-left and far-right parties, positioning itself as the "only alternative" that won't negotiate with extremes.
5 sources
- From corporate income tax swapped for fuel to personal income tax cuts: see here some of the more than two thousand changes parties want to make to the 2027 State Budgetexpresso.pt ·
- Chega insists on lowering the retirement age and VAT on fuelcmjornal.pt ·
- Lowering the ISP, reducing the retirement age and ending tuition fees: the parties' prioritiespublico.pt ·
- State Budget 2027: Chega wants to freeze retirement age next yearobservador.pt ·
- Parties submit 2,847 amendment proposals to the Budget. New all-time higheco.sapo.pt ·
