The Democratic Alliance (AD) campaign made a stop in Bragança, where Luís Montenegro addressed concerns following the government’s announcement that the Agency for Integration, Migration, and Asylum (AIMA) will begin notifying 4,574 foreign nationals next week to voluntarily leave the country within 20 days. Montenegro clarified that the process “was not accelerated now” and had started last year.
“There is a problem with the opposition in Portugal at the moment: they are very focused only on criticizing the government,” expressed Luís Montenegro.
Meanwhile, the Socialist Party launched its campaign in Ponte de Lima, with Pedro Nuno Santos criticizing Luís Montenegro for aligning more closely with Chega on immigration, accusing him of “Trumpization.” “This time, we have a prime minister who says some people must be expelled from the national territory, says it with a smile, and even asks Chega to praise his policy,” he emphasized.
From Ponte de Lima, the Socialist Party moved on to a rally in Guimarães, where Pedro Nuno Santos accused the AD of managing crises through salary and pension cuts.
On the topic of immigration, Chega took a firmer stance, advocating for the expulsion of unemployed immigrants. Nuno Simões de Melo, the leader in Guarda, stated that it is not “4,500 who have to go home,” but rather 1.7 million—a number not reflected in the official statistics of foreign residents in Portugal.
André Ventura, speaking on the first day of the campaign, urged for an opportunity to govern. “For 50 years, the same parties have failed, and for 50 years, we’ve chosen the same, always, PS and PSD,” stated the Chega leader, adding that the Portuguese people have become “increasingly poorer and increasingly lagging behind.”
Further south in Setúbal, the leader of the Liberal Initiative compared Pedro Nuno Santos to a “castaway clinging to lies” for survival, accusing the Socialist secretary-general of dishonesty about the healthcare model endorsed by the Socialists.
In the Livramento Market, Rui Rocha also issued a call for a “reformist center-right solution.” “It’s time for a truly reformist center-right solution, and for that, the right vote is for the Liberal Initiative,” he added.
The Left Bloc was active in Almada, where the national coordinator criticized “center governments” for having “thrown open the doors” to the far-right, asserting that they cannot complain now.
In Vila Franca de Xira, the Communist Party secretary-general used Mother’s Day to bring the issue of birth rates into the campaign, condemning the “pretty speeches” of other parties on the subject. “These are the same parties that refuse to combat job insecurity, low wages, wage discrimination against women, and the profound deregulation of working hours,” stated Paulo Raimundo, whose speech was disrupted by a power outage at the Sobralinho Pavilion.
In Cascais, at the city market, the spokesperson for Livre reiterated the desire to increase their parliamentary group and appealed to voters for “many poppies”—the party’s symbol—on the ballots.
Rui Tavares also took the opportunity to send a message to the left, asserting that Livre is capable of discussing freedom: “Something the left has somewhat abandoned, allowing it to be seized, used, and abused by a right-wing where one side genuinely dislikes freedom, as they would be the worst dictators if they gained power, and the other that considers freedom merely a matter of fewer taxes.”
The first day of the election campaign was also marked by the opening of early voting registrations, which will be open until next Thursday, and tonight’s debate between party leaders.
