Portugal's election brings another minority government and a far-right rise

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal’s president was due to convene the country’s political parties for consultations on Monday, after a general election delivered another minority government as well as a strong showing by populist party Chega (Enough) that added momentum to Europe’s shift to the far-right.

The center-right Democratic Alliance, led by the Social Democratic Party, captured 89 seats in the 230-seat National Assembly to win Sunday’s ballot. The outcome leaves it without a parliamentary majority, however, and vulnerable to opposition parties that ousted it two months ago in a confidence vote after less than a year in power.

Portugal’s third general election in three years provided little hope for ending the worst spell of political instability for decades in the European Union country of 10.6 million people.

“The Portuguese don’t want any more early elections,” Luis Montenegro, the Democratic Alliance leader and incoming prime minister, said late Sunday in an appeal for opposition parties to let him serve a full four-year term.

“We all have to be able to speak to each other and put the national interest first,” he said.

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has no executive power, is due to consult parties before inviting the election winner to form a government.

Chega’s result shook up the traditional balance of power in a trend already witnessed elsewhere in Europe with parties such as France’s National Rally, the Brothers of Italy, and Alternative for Germany, which are now in the political mainstream.

Chega leader Andre Ventura has appeared at events with the leaders of those parties in recent years.

For the past 50 years, the Social Democrats and the center-left Socialist Party have alternated in power in Portugal.

Chega collected the same number of seats as the Socialists — 58 — and could yet claim second place when four remaining seats decided by voters abroad are attributed in coming days.

“The two-party system is over,” Ventura, a lawyer and former soccer pundit, said.

Chega competed in its first election just six years ago, when it won one seat, and has fed off disaffection with the more moderate traditional parties.

Campaigning under the slogan “Save Portugal,” it describes itself as a nationalist party and has focused on curbing immigration and cracking down on corruption.

The Socialists, meanwhile, are without a leader after Pedro Nuno Santos said he was standing down after the party’s worst result since 1987.

The Democratic Alliance, which also includes the smaller Popular Party, lost a confidence vote in parliament in March as opposition lawmakers teamed up against it. That triggered an early election, which had been due in 2028.

The confidence vote was sparked by a political storm around potential conflicts of interest in the business dealings of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro’s family law firm. Montenegro has denied any wrongdoing.

Corruption scandals have dogged Portuguese politics in recent years, helping fuel the rise of Chega. But the party has recently fallen foul of its own lawmakers’ alleged wrongdoing. One is suspected of stealing suitcases from the Lisbon airport and selling the contents online, and another allegedly faked the signature of a dead woman. Both resigned.

Chega owes much of its success to its demands for a tighter immigration policy that have resonated with voters.

Portugal has witnessed a steep rise in immigration. In 2018, there were fewer than a half-million legal immigrants in the country, according to government statistics. By early this year, there were more than 1.5 million, many of them Brazilians and Asians working in tourism and farming.

Thousands more lack the proper documents to be in Portugal. The Democratic Alliance government announced two weeks before the election that it was expelling about 18,000 foreigners living in the country without authorization. Though such a step is routine, the timing drew accusations that it was trying to capture votes from Chega.

A housing crisis has also fired up debate. House prices and rents have been soaring for the past 10 years, due in part to an influx of white-collar foreigners who have driven up prices.

House prices jumped another 9% last year, said the National Statistics Institute, a government body. Rents in and around the capital Lisbon, where around 1.5 million people live, last year saw the steepest rise in 30 years, climbing more than 7%, the institute said.

The problem is compounded by Portugal being one of Western Europe’s poorest countries.

The average monthly salary last year was around 1,200 euros ($1,340) before tax, according to the statistics agency. The government-set minimum wage this year is 870 euros ($974) a month before tax.

"The hard-right populist party Chega" leader Andre Ventura gestures while addressing media and his supporters, following Portugal's general election, in Lisbon, Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

"The hard-right populist party Chega" leader Andre Ventura holds a Portugal's flag following Portugal's general election, in Lisbon, Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the center-right Social Democratic Party Luis Montenegro reacts with his supporters, following Portugal's general election, in Lisbon, Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

"The hard-right populist party Chega" leader Andre Ventura gestures before addressing media and his supporters, following Portugal's general election, in Lisbon, Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

"The hard-right populist party Chega" leader Andre Ventura holds a Portugal's flag following Portugal's general election, in Lisbon, Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Socialist Party secretary general Pedro Nuno Santos arrives to address supporters and media, following Portugal's general election, in Lisbon, Monday, May 19, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Supporters of the center-right ruling coalition of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro react to exit polls following Portugal's general election, in Lisbon, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Socialist Party secretary general Pedro Nuno Santos holds his ballot when voting in Portugal's general election at a polling station in Lisbon, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

A child watches a voter fill their ballot in Portugal's general election at polling station in Lisbon, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Andre Ventura, leader of the populist right-wing party Chega casts his ballot in Portugal's general election at polling station in Lisbon, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

A voter fills her ballot in Portugal's general election at polling station in Espinho, Portugal, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)

Socialist Party secretary general Pedro Nuno Santos holds his ballot when voting in Portugal's general election at a polling station in Lisbon, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the center-right Social Democratic Party Luis Montenegro casts his ballot in Portugal's general election at polling station in Espinho, Portugal, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)

A voter holds her ballot during voting in Portugal's general election at a polling station in Lisbon, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

Incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the center-right Social Democratic Party Luis Montenegro picks up his ballot to vote in Portugal's general election at polling station in Espinho, Portugal, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)

Incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the center-right Social Democratic Party Luis Montenegro casts his ballot in Portugal's general election at polling station in Espinho, Portugal, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Luis Vieira)

Socialist Party secretary general Pedro Nuno Santos waves to supporters during an election campaign action in Moscavide, on the outskirts of Lisbon, Friday, May 16, 2025, ahead of the May 18 general election. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)

Incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the center-right Social Democratic Party Luis Montenegro gestures to supporters during an election campaign action in downtown Lisbon, Friday, May 16, 2025, ahead of the May 18 general election. (AP Photo/Ana Brigida)

The Kennedy Center is ending the year with a new round of artists saying they are canceling scheduled performances after President Donald Trump's name was added to the facility, prompting the institution's president to accuse the performers of making their decisions because of politics.

The Cookers, a jazz supergroup that has performed together for nearly two decades, announced their withdrawal from “A Jazz New Year’s Eve” on their website, saying the “decision has come together very quickly” and acknowledging frustration from those who may have planned to attend.

Doug Varone and Dancers, a dance group based in New York, said in an Instagram post late Monday they would pull out of a performance slated for April, saying they “can no longer permit ourselves nor ask our audiences to step inside this once great institution.”

Those moves come after musician Chuck Redd canceled a Christmas Eve performance last week. They also come amid declining sales for tickets to the venue, as well as news that viewership for the Dec. 23 broadcast of the Kennedy Center Honors — which Trump had predicted would soar — was down by about 35% compared to the 2024 show.

The announcements amount to a volatile calendar for one of the most prominent performing arts venues in the U.S. and cap a year of tension in which Trump ousted the Kennedy Center board and named himself the institution's chairman. That led to an earlier round of artist pushback, with performer Issa Rae and the producers of “Hamilton” canceling scheduled engagements while musicians Ben Folds and Renee Fleming stepped down from advisory roles.

The Cookers didn't mention the building's renaming or the Trump administration but did say that, when they return to performing, they wanted to ensure that “the room is able to celebrate the full presence of the music and everyone in it,” reiterating a commitment “to playing music that reaches across divisions rather than deepening them.”

The group may not have addressed the Kennedy Center situation directly, but one of its members has. On Saturday, saxophone player Billy Harper said in comments posted on the Jazz Stage Facebook page that he “would never even consider performing in a venue bearing a name (and being controlled by the kind of board) that represents overt racism and deliberate destruction of African American music and culture. The same music I devoted my life to creating and advancing.”

According to the White House, Trump’s handpicked board approved the renaming. Harper said both the board "as well as the name displayed on the building itself represents a mentality and practices I always stood against. And still do, today more than ever.”

Richard Grenell, a Trump ally whom the president chose to head the Kennedy Center after he forced out the previous leadership, posted Monday night on X, “The artists who are now canceling shows were booked by the previous far left leadership,” intimating the bookings were made under the Biden administration.

In a statement Tuesday to The Associated Press, Grenell said the ”last minute cancellations prove that they were always unwilling to perform for everyone — even those they disagree with politically," adding that the Kennedy Center had been “flooded with inquiries from real artists willing to perform for everyone and who reject political statements in their artistry.”

There was no immediate word from Kennedy Center officials about whether the entity would pursue legal action against the latest round of artists to cancel performances. Following Redd's cancellation last week, Grenell said he would seek $1 million in damages for what he called a “political stunt.”

Not all artists are calling off their shows. Bluegrass banjoist Randy Barrett, scheduled to perform at the Kennedy Center next month, told the AP he was “deeply troubled by the politicization” of the venue and respected those who had canceled but feels that “our tribalized country needs more music and art, not less. It’s one of the few things that can bring us together.”

President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in 1963, and Congress passed a law the following year naming the center as a living memorial to him. Scholars have said any changes to the building's name would need congressional approval; the law explicitly prohibits the board of trustees from making the center into a memorial to anyone else, and from putting another person’s name on the building’s exterior.

Associated Press writers Steven Sloan and Hillel Italie contributed to this report.

Workers add President Donald Trump's name to the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, after a Trump-appointed board voted to rename the institution, in Washington, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

Demonstrators, including Nadine Siler, of Waldorf, Md., dressed in a pink frog costume, hold up signs at a designated protest point in front of the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, a day after a Trump-appointed board voted to add President Donald Trump's name to the Kennedy Center, Saturday, Dec. 20, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

New signage, The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts, is unveiled on the Kennedy Center, Friday, Dec. 19, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)