Anti-immigration right Chega Party leads for Sunday's president election in Portugal | Eastern NC Now

In what has been described as an "earthquake" in Portugese politics, the anti-immigration populist nationalist Chega (Enough!) Party is leading in the polls for the first round of Portugal's presidential election Sunday.  Overall, the right is well positioned.

A solidly sovereigntist party, Chega rejects European Union encroachment on national perogatives.  It makes strident opposition to illegal immigration a cornerstone of its agenda.  Chega is the official opposition party in parliament as the second largest in the body.  The largest party, the center-right Social Democrats, have formed a minority govenrment.  The long dominant leftwing Socialist Party is in third place there.

Despite not being part of the government, Chega has been cooperating in parliament with the Social Democrat government to pass legislation tightening the country's immigration laws.  A party of the center-right using the label "social democrat" is an oddity that originated in the tense period of the leftwing military government after the Carnation Revolution.

The poll puts Chega's Andre Ventura in first place in the presidential election with 24%, followed by Socialist candidate Antonio Segura at 23%.  They are followed by the candidate of the economically conservative Liberal Initiative at 19%, an independent backed by the Popular Monarchist Party at 14%, and the candidate of the center-right Social Democrats at 14%.

The top two candidates will meet in a runoff.

https://europeanconservative.com/articles/news/portugal-presidential-election-chega-leads/