Andre Ventura, leader of populist right wing party Chega, gestures to supporters before addressing them following the announcement of results for Portugal’s general election in Lisbon, Monday, March 11, 2024. Luis Montenegro, leader of the center-right Democratic Alliance, gestures to supporters after claiming victory in Portugal’s election, in Lisbon, Monday, March 11, 2024.
But 53-year-old police officer Isabel Fernandes said she felt apprehension “because some of the parties that elected many lawmakers have ideas that may go against fundamental rights, especially of women.”Portugal is electing a new parliament and government.
But times are different. Some Portuguese abroad are supporters of former U.S. president Donald Trump and former Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro, and they could see Chega as emulating them. Ventura has said he is prepared to drop some of his party’s most controversial proposals — such as chemical castration for some sex offenders and the introduction of life prison sentences — if that enables his party’s inclusion in a possible governing alliance.