The former President of the Assembly of the Republic, Eduardo Ferro Rodrigues, disclosed that he had warned “important leaders of the Socialist Party (PS) that Chega would rise” in these legislative elections. This statement came as PS and the Social Democratic Party (PSD) treated each other as “main enemies,” without addressing Chega “at the same level.”
“Chega, which strongly attacked PS and PSD, went completely unscathed during this campaign. The parties thought that what had happened with Chega’s parliamentary group was enough to enlighten the Portuguese about the nature of that group and the necessity to minimize it,” explained Ferro Rodrigues, highlighting the significant responsibility of the major parties. “I had the opportunity to tell very important leaders of the PS that Chega was going to rise. I had that conviction on the eve of the elections, and that the PS had a great responsibility in that,” he revealed during an interview on the program As Três da Manhã on Rádio Renascença.
The socialist expressed having a “pessimistic realism” about the situation in the country, viewing it as “effectively serious.”
“I do not look, with a lighthearted attitude, at the results, but I do not think it’s something that cannot be changed,” added the former President of the Assembly of the Republic.
The coalition AD (PSD/CDS-PP), led by the current Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, won the early legislative elections on Sunday with over 32% of the votes, lacking an absolute majority. In the coalition, the two parties elected 89 deputies, with 87 from PSD and two from CDS-PP, securing more than one-third of the 230 seats in Parliament but falling short of an absolute majority.
With the votes from the emigration circles yet to be counted and the respective four mandates to be allocated, PS stands as the second most voted, with 23.38% of the votes and 58 deputies, the same number as Chega, albeit with lesser votes at 22.56%.
Provisional results released by the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration placed IL in fourth place, with 5.53% of the votes and nine deputies, followed by Livre with 4.2% and six elected members.
The CDU (PCP/PEV) secured 3.03% of the votes, electing three deputies, all from the PCP. Meanwhile, BE garnered 2%, and PAN 1.36%, each electing one deputy, along with JPP from Madeira, which received 0.34% of the national vote.
