Final results of Portugal’s legislative elections due at 5pm today
With 70,000 emigré votes still to be counted, Correio da Manhã runs with the story today that CHEGA has pretty much ‘swept the board’.
The right wing (some say ‘extreme right wing’) party has led voting tendencies in the constituencies outside Europe, and come a strong second in Europe, says the paper.
The upshot is that CHEGA – already managing 48 MPs in the nation-based elections on March 10 – will probably end up with 50.
These emigré votes elect four MPs to Portugal’s parliament. With the way results were pointing by CM’s print deadline for its Wednesday edition, PS Socialists and PSD social democrats should each walk away with one MP, taking the final results to 80 MPs for the election winners (the AD centre right alliance) and 78 for PS Socialists.
An announcement on the final voting tally is expected by 5pm when President Marcelo is due to receive Luís Montenegro, the leader of PSD social democrats/ figurehead of AD and undoubtedly now the country’s future prime minister.
As for this emigré vote, it has been ‘unprecedented’ in both numbers and choices: CHEGA has never before succeeded in electing an MP for an emigré constituency.
The ‘nitty gritty’ means that former parliamentary president Augusto Santos Silva – a potential candidate as the next President of Portugal, and legendary ‘critic’ of CHEGA (his verbal sparring with the party leader in parliament has marked the last few years) may end up not being elected (see update).
Everything hinges on the ‘final results’ of this marathon of counting taking place in Lisbon’s Centro de Congressos under the auspices of 700 citizens chosen by the country’s political parties.
UPDATE: CM’s prediction has proved correct: SIC Notícias this afternoon reports that Augusto Santos Silva has indeed lost his seat, and will not be returning to parliament. André Ventura has quipped that this is the cherry on the cake of CHEGA’s election success.
natasha.donn@portugalresident.com
