“Enough” : How Chega redefined Portugal’s Politics in 2025

Portugal’s legal framework is based on a civil law system, with a comprehensive constitution, a uni-cameral parliament (Assembleia da República, elected every 4 years) and a head of state elected on a 5 year term.

I arrived in the country on May 1st, 2025. Two weeks later on May 18th, an historic election took place in the República Portuguesa, reflecting the ongoing political instability.

Indeed, this was the third election in three years, triggered by a vote of no confidence in the center-right Democratic Alliance (AD) government, which ended five decades of stable two-party politics between the center-left Socialist Party (PS, Partido Socialista) and the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD, Partido Social Democrata). Before then, the Socialist Party had been in power from 2015 to 2024, but it has now suffered its worst defeat since the 80s against the far right Chega party. Chega is a Portuguese word which translates directly to Enough, symbolizing the rising anti-establishment feeling of the Portuguese people.

This party has acquired 60 seats in the Assembleia da República (the National Parliament), thus becoming the main opposition to the Democratic Alliance coalition and its center-right government. The reason for such a turn of events is a repetition of corruption scandals and a chronic housing crisis. Chega thus benefited from voter fatigue and capitalized on it by upholding common far right ideologies (defender of traditional Portuguese values and national identity, limitation of immigration, extreme criminal justices policies, prejudice against women, LGBTQI+ people, Muslims and Roma people). As a result, Portugal has followed the widespread European shift towards far-right politics, with Chega cultivating relationships with emblematic Europeans parties such as Marine Le Pen’s Rassemblement National in France, Alternative für Deutschland (AfD) for Germany and Spain’s Vox party.

During my second week in  Faro, Portugal, I have witnessed several manifestations of Chega adherents. This has made a great impact on me on a personal level as I did not expect such strong political events to take place during my stay.