PSD gives Chega municipal portfolios; PS walks out
The PSD has handed municipal portfolios to Chega in Cascais, prompting the Socialist Party (PS) to return its own portfolios in protest, Expresso reports. The change follows earlier power‑sharing arrangements and transfers responsibility for areas including the local economy, employment and fund management to councillors aligned with Chega. The swap has already prompted local political turbulence and questions about service continuity. Cascais residents and those with business or planning interests in the municipality should watch for changes to local procedures and contacts.
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.
