President of Portugal will meet with possible center-right prime minister after election

The president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, is due to meet this Wednesday (20) with Luís Montenegro, the leader of the center-right Democratic Alliance (AD), which won the March 10 general elections by a small margin. margin, to appoint him as head of a minority government.

The president of Portugal has been meeting with the leaders of the main political parties, one at a time, for more than a week. This Wednesday afternoon (20), he should end meetings with the AD leader.

On Tuesday, he met with Pedro Nuno Santos, from the second-placed Socialist Party, who said he believes Montenegro will be nominated to head the government.

The far-right Chega party came third, quadrupling its parliamentary representation after campaigning on a platform of clean, anti-immigration governance.

Montenegro has repeatedly said it will not make any deal with Chega, whose leader André Ventura has demanded a role in the government in exchange for support, meaning his government would have to negotiate with other parties to pass legislation.

Ballots from voters abroad were still being counted and provisional results are expected to be announced later this Wednesday (20), with four more parliamentary seats yet to be allocated.

The president will announce his choice for prime minister after all votes are counted, which could occur later on Wednesday.

So far, the AD has won 79 seats in the 230-seat legislature, which is due to hold its first session next week, followed by the socialists' 77 seats and Chega, with 48.

The government can be sworn in in the first week of April and must present its program to Parliament within 10 days of that date, which will be automatically approved unless Parliament holds a vote to reject it.

Analysts expect an AD government to be allowed to take power and see the 2025 budget as its first test of survival this year. A rejected budget could lead to a new election.