European Central: Portugal Seeks To Ban Far-Right Party
Chega
Far-right political parties have been created all over Europe, and countries have been unsure how to respond. These parties have had success in national elections and elections for the European Parliament of the European Union. In Portugal, there is an attempt to ban Chega (Enough), a new political party established in 2019. Andres Ventura leads the party, and he is currently the only elected member of the party in Portugal’s parliament.
The Sudden Rise Of Chega
When Chega won 1.3 percent of the vote in the 2019 Portuguese parliamentary elections, this was the first time a far-right party won seats in parliament. Chega did considerably better in the presidential election in 2021, placing third with 13 percent of the vote. Several factors potentially contributed to the party’s electoral success, a large wave of Covid-19 cases during the presidential elections in January of this year, an 8 percent decrease in Portugal’s GDP in 2020, and the risk of a sharp increase in unemployment by the end of the pandemic.
On its website, Chega describes itself as a national, conservative, liberal, and personalist party in its manifesto. It further elaborates that it is important to reduce the government down to its essential functions and that the party is also against tyranny. The party considers itself neutral when it comes to religion, but it still recognizes the role the catholic church has in European civilization and Portuguese history. Chega states it exists to mobilize the people unhappy with the current political parties, which are referred to as an oligarchy that has existed for 45 years. It is important to note that 45 years would be the time frame from when the Portuguese dictatorship ended in 1974 to 2019 when Chega was founded. The penal system is mentioned with the goal of reintroducing life in prison for serious crimes. The Portuguese state is referred to as an extortionist machine, and citizens are simply contributors who are robbed through taxes. After reading the manifesto, one can understand that the party is appealing to those who are unsatisfied with the current state of Portuguese politics.
The Move To Stop Chega
Ana Gomes, who ran as the presidential candidate for the socialist party, is leading the charge to ban Chega as a political party. The basis for this is the alleged xenophobic values of Chega, which are against the Portuguese Constitution. Paulo Otero and Miguel Prata Roque, two constitutionalists, discussed in an interview whether or not it is possible to ban a political party. Otero is concerned that banning a political party is an action that dictatorships take and not democracies. On the other hand, Prata Roque feels it is possible to ban political parties that are in direct conflict with the Portuguese constitution. Prata Roque believes that the constitution does not allow political parties with harmful beliefs towards minorities as these political parties have the potential to become totalitarian. While he seems to think it is possible to ban Chega, he admits that the Constitutional Court turned a blind eye to PNR, a far-right party found in 2000 and was renamed to Ergue-te (Rise up) in 2020. The court may not have banned the party due to the lack of electoral success that Ergue-te has had.
This move may be partially explained by Chega’s ability to gain some political power. Far-right parties in Germany and Sweden are ignored and kept out of the ruling coalitions, but Chega gained recognition after the regional elections in the Azores. Despite not becoming a part of the cabinet in the Azores, Chega was able to negotiate critical points with Conservative parties that did become a part of the cabinet, and Chega is part of the ruling coalition. Chega compromised with PSD to focus on reducing the size of the Azorean regional parliament and national parliament, leaving out initial demands from Ventura to include the right to physically castrate pedophiles in the Portuguese Constitution. The demand to reduce the size of the parliament or the inclusion of castration in the constitution would likely fail. This is because these measures would require two-thirds of the parliament to vote in favor. Ventura has also considered demanding that the positions of Prime Minister and Ministers of the country can only be held by those of Portuguese nationality. These extreme views can explain the sense of urgency Gomes has to take action against Chega.
There is a problem with the strategy to ban Chega, as this plan has upset some Portuguese citizens. Thousands marched in Lisbon to protest this move, which is noteworthy considering the ongoing pandemic. While Gomes can try to get the political party banned, the problem is that other political parties with similar values can be created as long as voters are unhappy with the mainstream parties. It would be more constructive for mainstream political parties to appeal to voters who currently feel disenfranchised rather than add fuel to the fire.
At the same time, it is understandable Ana Gomes is concerned about the treatment of minorities in Portugal. Like in many other European nations, minorities are feeling a large economic burden due to the pandemic. Minority neighborhoods are angry with how they have been policed and feel they have had their businesses closed down more often than the same types of businesses in white communities. An example is Sandra Pina, a café owner, who has had her business shut down multiple times during the pandemic partly due to concern about crowds that gather in cafes. This left her unable to earn money each time her café was forcibly closed by authorities, and yet she witnessed cafes in white neighborhoods open with large crowds. Chega may continue to provoke xenophobic sentiments as the party called for Covid-19 specific restrictions placed on Roma, which may cause the Roma community to be treated differently. Andres Ventura also attacked the Portuguese president for appearing in a photo with a family in the Jamaica neighborhood. The attitude of Ventura was the president preferred to spend time with bandits rather than the police. Despite criticism of this statement and a pending court case regarding comments over the photo, Ventura has doubled down on his original comment reiterating that the country’s president should not spend time with bandits instead of the police.
It will be important to see the verdict of the Portuguese Constitutional Court and whether Chega is banned or not. If it is not banned, it will be interesting to see whether Chega will see continued electoral success. This is possible depending on the end of the pandemic and whether or not the Portuguese economy is able to recover and the time this recovery takes. Regardless of whether or not the party is banned, other European nations may try to explore whether they can attempt to ban far-right political parties as well.
