Centre-right wins Portugal elections as far-right surges
Portugal’s centre-right party – Democratic Alliance – has claimed a narrow victory but has little chance of forming a majority government.
Democratic Alliance leader Luis Montenegro told supporters that the Portuguese had voted through change – but the margin was so small, it was less than convincing.
Both main parties polled about 29% of the vote.
Only far-right Chega could claim a clear-cut success.
Luis Montenegro’s party only broke into Portuguese politics five years ago and managed to secure 18% of the vote and 48 seats in the 230-seat Parliament.
Political commentators say Portugal is facing its most fragmented parliament since the end of its dictatorship half a century ago.
The country headed to the polls in Sunday’s snap election, just four months after Socialist Prime Minister António Costa stood down amid corruption allegations, even though he was never named as a suspect.