A member of the Chega party, Fernando Sá Nóbrega, has filed a complaint seeking the annulment of the party’s candidate lists, which would prevent Chega from participating in elections across several constituencies.
The complaint pertains to electoral districts in 20 regions including Lisbon, Porto, Leiria, Beja, Viseu, Vila Real, Viana do Castelo, Setúbal, Santarém, Portalegre, Guarda, Madeira, Azores, Coimbra, Castelo Branco, Évora, Bragança, Faro, Braga, and Aveiro.
Previously, Sá Nóbrega had successfully contested the legality of the last Chega National Convention at the Constitutional Court. The court ruled that the election of national bodies during that convention, as well as the preceding one in Santarém in January 2023, were invalid.
Sá Nóbrega highlights these rulings, asserting that “the party’s bodies are legally invalid.”
“The court explicitly stated that if the party wishes to rectify its status and ensure legal compliance, it must rely on those individuals who were part of the party’s organs in 2019 to organize legitimate elections lawfully,” the actions declare.
According to the Chega statutes, the National Directorate is responsible for approving candidate lists for deputies. Sá Nóbrega argues that, as this directorate is legally non-existent, all lists submitted in its name lack legal validity and should be rejected.
“In our view, the issue is extremely serious since the list was suggested and approved by bodies that no longer exist, thereby compromising the credibility of the Chega party’s list,” he warns.
However, Sá Nóbrega has faced two rejections already.
The Judicial Court of the District of Porto and the court in Viana do Castelo both declined the complaint, stating that Sá Nóbrega “lacks the standing” to lodge it.
The Porto court further noted that the party provided a “certificate from the Constitutional Court dated March 17, 2025,” with their candidacy, maintaining that the Constitutional Court’s decision regarding the Chega congress “only holds domestic relevance within the party, not affecting its external representation or legal status as verified by the Constitutional Court in these proceedings, thus eliminating claims of nonexistence of party representatives or legal invalidity.”
The electoral law for the Assembly of the Republic stipulates that “decisions by a judge regarding the submission of candidacies can be appealed to the same judge” by “candidates, their representatives, and the political parties contesting the election in the district.”
When submitting the candidate list for Lisbon, Chega’s leader asserted that despite the Constitutional Court’s ruling, the party’s national bodies remain “in function” and “legitimate,” a claim disputed by those who contested the convention.
