With cry of ‘enough,’ Portugal’s far right challenges the establishment

Rodrigo Mira, like many Portuguese voters, has had enough of Socialist Party governments.

“We are tired of left-wing politics and left-wing policies,” says Mr. Mira, a security-sector worker who previously lived in Texas. “We want to have a chance to change and have a better country like [the United States] will with [Donald] Trump.”

That is why Mr. Mira is planning to vote for Chega – whose name indeed means “enough” – in Sunday’s parliamentary elections in Portugal. Led by André Ventura, a rising star of Europe’s radical right movement, Chega looks set to be the kingmaker in what is expected to be a hung parliament. While the ruling Socialist Party and the opposition Social Democratic Party will still likely be the two top seat-winners, upstart Chega has been polling in the mid-to-high teens, allowing them to potentially determine the next ruling coalition.

That would be a change for Portugal, which in April celebrates the 50-year anniversary of a bloodless military insurrection that overthrew the country’s right-wing dictatorship. While Mr. Ventura doesn’t have a feasible path to the prime minister’s office, he does espouse a conservative ideology long unfamiliar to the country, focused on the “threats” posed by “gender ideology,” “uncontrolled” migration, and Portugal’s Roma community. He speaks of restoring respect for and obedience to the police, and eliminating the black market and corruption.

“This is the first time we have a competent populist being a populist in Portugal. He has very good communication skills. He is intelligent,” says Vítor Matos, a Portuguese journalist and author of a book on Mr. Ventura. “He is a modern, right-wing, radical populist – against the system.”

Dominique Soguel

A Chega campaign poster featuring Mr. Ventura in Santarém, Portugal, reads, “Portugal needs a cleanup,” March 4, 2024.

Portugal’s new populism

Portugal has been facing tough times economically over the past couple of decades. The country’s traditional industries like agriculture and fishing have foundered in the European Union, and wages have yet to recover from the country’s 2011 bailout and associated austerity measures. Portuguese people have long migrated in search of opportunities abroad, and many who stayed hold multiple jobs to stay afloat. Housing prices have skyrocketed as the country has focused on tourism, and public health services have deteriorated.

For much of the public, the country’s current state of affairs is a confounding contrast to its former status as the heart of the Portuguese Empire. “The Portuguese can’t understand why they went from being an imperial power to such a poor country,” says Carlos Matos Gomes, a retired army colonel who participated in the 1975 Carnation Revolution and historian.

It is amid these conditions that Chega was created in 2019, centered largely on its leader. Mr. Ventura has an eclectic background: He is a former seminarian with a doctorate in criminal law from the University College Cork in Ireland, and his CV includes stints in the national revenue service, private law, and even soccer commentating on television. He originally entered politics as part of the Social Democratic Party.

On paper, Chega’s political program is populist and nativist, putting a high emphasis on security, independence, and the need to tackle “uncontrolled” migration. Mr. Ventura has floated the idea of slashing social and health benefits for migrants until they have made five years’ worth of contributions to the state.

On the economic front, he promises lower taxes and higher pensions. And he promises a Portugal where young people can make a living and feel safe. Mr. Ventura is not anti-Europe, although he criticizes Brussels for regulatory heavy-handedness to whip up support in farming and fishing communities.

Dominique Soguel

Chega supporters wave the party's flags and Portuguese flags at a campaign rally held by Mr. Ventura in Portalegre.

“Ventura is a natural-born politician and an extraordinary communicator,” says Jaime Nogueira Pinto, a right-wing political thinker and author of many books on contemporary Portuguese history. “He found a vacuum because the ideas of national independence and conservative set of values” were not championed by the mainstream parties.

“There is also an element of protest,” he adds. “People in Europe feel a sense that politicians don’t care about them. That’s the reason why these new parties appear and have success.”

In the run-up to the elections, Mr. Ventura’s speeches have centered on messages of anti-corruption and “cleaning up” Portugal. That appeals to a broader swath of the Portuguese public, particularly because the previous government came down amid several headline-dominating corruption scandals. So do his promises of boosting pensions and relieving the tax burden.

“In the abstract, it is not a radical agenda,” says Mr. Matos, the journalist. “But then he has all this speech about immigration that [is fodder] for the nationalist right. He is very against Muslims, immigrants, and Islam. But Portugal has no problem with its Islamic communities. They are not so large, and there has never been a terrorist attack.”

“We are regular people”

At a luncheon rally this week organized by Chega, the mood was jubilantly optimistic. Mr. Mira waved the Portuguese flag and his broom (to clean up Portugal) with equal gusto. Others shouted out, “André Ventura for prime minister” and flashed the V-for-victory sign.

“Ventura is very balanced,” says Mr. Mira, preemptively rejecting the far-right and extremist label often hurled at the party. “Sometimes he talks too loud, but he is not like Trump. It is common opinion to try to put Chega and Ventura in the extreme right wing. But we are regular people. We are nice people.”

Tiago Silva, an environmental engineer who also runs a bakery in Lisbon, is at the rally, too. He has several complaints about the current state of Portugal, including that taxes are too high, the black market economy is too large, and Lisbon feels unsafe, which he links to the presence of migrants in the capital.

Dominique Soguel

Tiago Silva (right) and his mother, Constança Pinto, from Lisbon sit at a campaign rally lunch organized by Chega in Santarém.

He also takes issue with what he says is “gender ideology” being pushed by the government. A law approved in December 2023 stipulates that schools should respect the gender identity of students as they define it. Mr. Silva pulled his daughter from public school to put her in a private Catholic one.

“Gender ideology is very dangerous for Portugal, and it is dangerous for all societies,” he says. “It goes against family values.”

Mr. Ventura and Chega supporters have also singled out the Roma community for vilification, accusing the country’s 200,000 members of the ethnic minority of making the country unsafe. The latest edition of Global Peace Index ranks Portugal as the seventh-safest country in the world.

Such tropes have earned the party the far-right label from some analysts and journalists. Critics call Mr. Ventura an opportunist at best, and some go as far to call him a fascist.

“Chega is without a doubt a fascist party,” argues Zézé Gamboa, an Angolan Portuguese director of documentary films. “It is evident in their program and the way they speak lies about migrants. It is a brand of populism that doesn’t square with the Portuguese reality.”

But for Chega voters, including young people, their party is devoted to making a difference. “This is the party that represents the majority of young people that want to stay in the country, a country that is still nice and safe,” says Mariana Guerra, a law student from Portalegre, a town along the eastern border with Spain.

“I never felt represented by the mainstream parties,” Ms. Guerra adds. “Chega is like a fresh breeze. It is the party of what everyone thinks and says at home but not in the streets.”