By Domiziana Marinelli for EU Correspondent project

Elections in Portugal: “The absolute majority of the Socialist Party, the poor score of the Bloco de Esquerda and the fact that there are too many racist deputies in Parliament.”

Socialist Antonio Costa triumphed in the early legislative elections on Sunday, winning the absolute majority, after more than six years of relative instability in the National Assembly. With 41,7% of the vote (almost +6% more than in 2019), which corresponds to at least 117 deputies, out of a total of 230 elected to the Assembly.

This represents the second best score ever achieved by the Portuguese Socialist Party, after José Socrates’ victory in 2015. “This absolute majority does not mean absolute power or power alone,” Costa said in the evening, pledging to “build compromises” in the Assembly with all but Chega, the far right party who skyrocketed in these elections .

In fact with 12 elected officials and 7.15% of the vote (+6% and +11 MP compared with 2019) , the far-right Chega party, founded in 2019 by André Ventura, aims to become the third political force. For the first time since the end of Salazarism in 1974, the Portuguese far right is weighing in the political debate advocating life imprisonment, chemical castration of delinquents and announces battle to the gypsy communities.

Catarina Martins, leader of the left coalition Bloco de Esquerda, which fell to sixth place in the hemicycle (previously third), summed up the elections in three points: “The absolute majority of the SP, the poor score of the Bloco, and finally the fact that there are too many racist deputies in Parliament.”

The parties at the left wing of the SP are those paying the highest price after provoking early elections in october 2021. When the BE and the Communists refused to facilitate the adoption of the SP’s draft budget for 2022. The BE fell to 4.5% (going from 19 to 5 MPs), while the PCP, allied with the Green party, lost 4 MP from 2019 (4.4%, 6 MPs).

The high abstention rate (42%) partly explained by the Omicron variant pandemic, was still below the 2019 score (51%).