Troy Southgate

Dec 20, 2024

IN 2019, Portugal had a legislative election in which candidates from various political parties were contesting the 230 seats of the Assembly of the Republic. Now, although I place no importance in the electoral system whatsoever, it was interesting in light of the fact that a so-called ‘Far Right’ party managed to get its hands on a parliamentary seat. Portugal, for those of you who don’t know, is extremely left-wing and at that time was governed by a ‘confidence-and-supply agreement’ involving four parties: Socialist Party (PS), Left Bloc (BE), Communist Party (PCP) and the Greens (PEV). The ‘Far Right’ organisation that managed to win a seat is called Chega (‘Enough’) and, perhaps unsurprisingly, focussed on anti-immigration, Euro-scepticism and conservative values.

Whilst Chega was immediately supported by a section of Portuguese nationalists, many of whom have been waiting for a vaguely ‘successful’ Right-wing party for decdes, I should point out that Chega also supports economic liberalism and its leader, André Ventura (pictured), was quoted as saying that he has a

“clear commitment to defending the existence of the State of Israel in the face of rising anti-Semitism and terrorist threats in which the Jewish people are targeted [also] fighting for the transfer of the Portuguese embassy to Jerusalem.”

Naturally, it is always the most ambitious people who seem to know which buttons to press and five years later in the Portuguese legislative election of 2024 the Chega party won 12 seats (7.2%).

Whilst the rise of Chega is a clear attempt to ride the wave of populism that has infected the rest of Europe, I detect a more sinister dimension to this recent development. Over the last few years Portugal has become subject to increasing immigration, particularly from Brazil and the country’s ‘former’ African colonies such as Angola and Mozambique. Whilst this has no doubt influenced those who voted for the party it is my belief that in a country which, until recently, was left relatively unscathed by demographic change in relation to modern Europe as a whole, André Ventura and his ugly friends were chosen to act as political gate-keepers.

In other words, rather than wait for a more grassroots organisation to mop up sections of the ‘Far Right’ this kosher version of Right-wing populism is being used as a pressure-valve to ease the inevitable growth of native identitarianism. In effect, what this really means is that Portugal’s economic swindlers are already planning the next phase of enrichment and need to ensure that it comes to pass with as little authentic resistance as possible. Time will tell whether Ventura himself becomes the next Trump, Johnson or Bolsonaro, but I can already think of something they have in common.