Description: The incumbent Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro and his center – right Democratic Alliance (AD) party have won the parliamentary elections in Portugal but failed to secure the ruling majority as the far – right Chega party marked historic election result. Montenegro’s government lost a parliamentary vote of confidence in Mar, after just one year in power which prompted a parliamentary inquiry into the allegations against Montenegro’s conflict of interest. Several consultancy companies were connected to the current Portuguese Prime Minister which precipitated him to call for early elections and form a minority government. The Socialist Party suffered one of the worst election defeats, as their leader Pedro Nuno Santos announced his resignation. Montenegro’s AD with the current vote count would hold 89 seats in the 230 – seat Portuguese parliament, far from the 116 seats needed to form a ruling majority.
Impact: Portugal’s parliamentary elections have propelled the country towards further political instability as the coalition campaign starts to unfold. Evident issue would be reaching a potential consensus with conservative or far – right parties, as Chega and the Socialist Party both hold 58 parliamentary seats. Portugal’s election is much alike the one in Germany, where the leader of the party, which would be the evident coalition partner and would oust the far – right from the government, resigns to position its party as the favorite for entering the government. The scandal surrounding Montenegro hasn’t dissuaded the public into political distrust as he is set to once again become Portugal’s Prime Minister. Chega would serve as the major political obstructionist as Montenegro would aim at isolating the party from his so – called EU oriented coalition. The coalition negotiations could potentially tear apart the country’s political stability even further as evident discrepancies persist and the threat of the far – right could put pressure on Portugal’s strategic ambitions within the EU.