Parliament approves Chega members for RTP oversight body
The Parliamentary Committee on Transparency has approved the candidacy of three Chega deputies to the RTP Opinion Council. The committee concluded there are no legal incompatibilities for the appointments, with the decision passing despite opposition from the Livre party.
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.
RTP (Rádio e Televisão de Portugal) is Portugal's public service broadcaster, operating television channels (RTP1, RTP2, RTP3, RTP Memória, RTP Internacional, RTP África), radio stations (Antena 1, Antena 2, Antena 3, RDP Internacional, RDP África), and the RTP Play streaming platform.
Founded in 1955 (television) and 1935 (radio, as Emissora Nacional), RTP is funded through a monthly audiovisual contribution (Contribuição para o Audiovisual, CAV) included in electricity bills, plus limited advertising revenue. It operates under a public service concession that mandates news independence, cultural programming, and coverage for Portuguese-speaking communities worldwide.
RTP plays a central role in Portuguese public life — it hosts the main political debates during elections, produces news programming, and broadcasts major national events. Its editorial independence and funding model are recurring subjects of political debate, with some parties advocating for privatization or restructuring of the public broadcaster.
