Portugal looked set Monday for a period of political uncertainty after no party won a majority in a general election over the weekend, which saw the far right surge into the role of potential kingmaker. The centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD), which won the most seats in Sunday's vote, is expected to be tapped in coming days to try to form a government. AD beat the incumbent Socialist Party (PS) but took just 79 seats, far short of a majority in the 230-seat parliament. Even with the backing of the tiny business-friendly Liberal Initiative (IL) party, the AD would still need the support of anti-immigration party Chega to reach a majority of 116 seats in the assembly. Chega posted the biggest gains, winning 48 seats after just 12 in the last election in 2022, cementing its position in Portugal's political landscape. It has demanded to be part of a right-wing coalition government in exchange for its parliamentary support, but AD leader Luis Montenegro has repeatedly ruled out any post-election agreement with the party branded as xenophobic by its critics. With Portugal facing political uncertainty following a knife-edge election that saw the far-right party making historic inroads, FRANCE 24's François Picard is joined by Pedro Cordeiro. Expresso International Affairs Editor.
