Recent polls show almost 20% of votes to this far right party, which is very scary to me. Roughly one fifth of parliament members would subscribe to this platform. By the way, they aren’t focusing on this topic as much recently but when they rose to power their platform focused essentially on “solving” the gypsy problem in Portugal.

Last Friday there as a debate between all major parties and to my surprise, it went very well for this guy. He is usually very disrespectful during debates, constantly interrupting others, and is also prone to saying bullshit and his opponent wiping the floor with him. But on Friday the representatives of the two biggest political parties, the ruling party (PS, the socialist party) and especially the main opposition (PSD, or SPD in the linked article, the social democratic party) made fools of themselves and all Ventura (far right) had to do was stay quiet and interject at key points. It makes sense since both parties are wrapped up in controversy right now. I still disagreed with his message but I foresee people him getting many votes from those who were uncertain about whether they’d vote for him or for the social democratic party.

Also, not mentioned in the article, last Tuesday there was a debate between parties without parliamentary seats and it was shocking how many far right parties are popping up (there were always some far left parties). With some saying things like “the carnation revolution (where Portugal overthrew its dictatorship) was the biggest treason in the history for this country”…

This is the best summary I could come up with:

Portugal’s two-week general election campaign has officially begun with centre-right and centre-left parties leading in the polls, but a far-right populist forecast to collect almost a fifth of the vote is a further sign of Europe’s nativist drift.

However, with the Socialists favourites to win the most votes but combined rightwing parties expected to end up with more seats in parliament, many observers’ eyes were on Ventura – who has long said he will he will not back a rightist coalition unless he is formally a part of it.

Unlike in several EU member states from Finland to Italy, the far right has so far failed to make much impact in Portugal, which in April celebrates half a century since its 1974 Carnation Revolution ended almost as many years of authoritarian rule.

But the early 10 March election, called after the surprise resignation of Socialist prime minister, António Costa, is being held in the shadow of multiple corruption scandals that have fuelled voter disenchantment and favour the far right, analysts say.

In recent weeks, a Lisbon court has also ruled that a former Socialist prime minister, José Sócrates, should stand trial over allegations that he pocketed about €34m (£29m) during his time in power from graft, fraud and money laundering.

A housing crisis, persistent low pay levels and unreliable public health services are other areas where the records of the two main parties – which polls suggest are neck-and-neck on 28% and 29% of the vote – are being challenged.

The original article contains 739 words, the summary contains 250 words. Saved 66%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!

Why should we Europeans allow people who shit on our values and way of life to live among us?