Chiga strengthened its position as the third political force in Portugal in the early legislative elections that took place on March 10. The far-right party has particularly attracted Portuguese in Switzerland, where it has the best results in Europe.
Since Thursday, Portugal has had a new prime minister, Luis Montenegro, a moderate right-wing leader who will likely have to form a minority government without Cega.
This far-right party strengthened its position as a third political force in the early legislative elections that took place on March 10, and will win two of the four seats allocated to Portuguese abroad. In the European electoral district, the party obtained the best results in Switzerland. One in three voters have their sights set on the nationalist Chega party, which means “enough” in French. This is double what it was in 2022.
This is a surprising result, because the Portuguese in Switzerland have so far mainly voted left. On Friday, at La Matinale de la RTS, Antonio da Cunha, president of the Federation of Portuguese Associations in Switzerland, interpreted the decision as a protest vote.
Disappointment of skilled workers
“The recent waves of immigration from Portugal that have arrived in Switzerland consist of people angry with their country and their government,” he points out. Most of these Portuguese immigrants enjoy a good education, and 25% of them have pursued university studies, he said. “But to find work, they have to travel abroad. (…) So it is understandable that they arrive here disappointed,” he analyzes.
But Antonio da Cunha puts this result in perspective, because the participation rate was low, only 33%. Of the 200,000 Portuguese currently residing in Switzerland, only 16,000 voted for Chiga in the end.
Radio Subject: Julie Roces
Web adaptation: Miroslav Mares
