Portugal: Communist Party Holds Ground with Three Seats Amid Left-Wing Setbacks
Lisbon, Portugal – May 20, 2025
In Portugal’s snap general election on May 18, the Unitary Democratic Coalition (CDU), led by the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP), secured three seats in the Assembly of the Republic with 3.03% of the vote, totaling 180,943 ballots. While this result is a decline from 2024—when the coalition garnered 3.30% (202,325 votes) and four seats—it ensures the PCP’s continued parliamentary presence at a time when the Portuguese left is grappling with significant challenges, including the alarming rise of the far-right Chega party.
The three elected communist deputies are Paulo Raimundo from the Lisbon constituency (3.57%), Alfredo Maia from Porto (2.28%), and Paula Santos from Setúbal (7.12%). However, the PCP faced notable setbacks: it lost a seat in Lisbon and failed to win representation in traditional strongholds like Évora (10.17%) and Beja (13.56%). Most strikingly, the party lost its foothold in the Alentejo region—a historic bastion of Portuguese communism—for the first time in 50 years, a symbolic and strategic blow in an area long associated with the fight against inequality and rural exploitation.
A Fractured Left in a Shifting Political
Landscape
The election, Portugal’s third in as many years, underscores the deepening crisis facing the country’s left-wing forces. The Socialist Party (PS) managed only 23.4% of the vote, tying with the far-right Chega party at 58 seats each. The Left Bloc (Bloco de Esquerda) stagnated with five seats, unable to capitalize on widespread discontent. Meanwhile, the centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD), led by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, emerged as the largest force with 32.1% of the vote and 86 seats, though it fell short of the 116 seats needed for an outright majority. Chega, with a record 22% of the vote, has solidified its position as a major player, feeding off frustration with Portugal’s housing crisis, soaring rents, and an average monthly wage of just €1,602 (£1,346).
For the PCP, these results reflect a longer-term decline. The CDU, a coalition between the PCP and the Ecologist Party "The Greens" (PEV) since 1987, historically secured between 6% and 10% of the national vote until 2019. However, its share has dipped below 5% since 2022, a trend exacerbated by the left’s inability to present a united front against the far-right’s populist surge. Chega’s leader, André Ventura, declared the result a historic break from 50 years of bipartisan dominance, claiming his party had “killed bipartisanship in Portugal.”
A Beacon of Resistance
Despite the setbacks, the PCP remains a unique and resilient voice in Portuguese politics. Rooted in Marxist-Leninist principles and organized through democratic centralism, the party has long championed workers’ rights, social justice, and national sovereignty against the pressures of the European Union. The CDU, which also includes the Democratic Intervention (ID) movement, relies on a committed grassroots base, bolstered by its youth wing, Juventude CDU, composed of members from the Portuguese Communist Youth and Ecolojovem.
Paula Santos, re-elected in Setúbal, struck a defiant tone in the wake of the results. “While these numbers are disappointing, they do not diminish our resolve to fight for a fairer society,” she said. Santos called for “a united front of progressive forces” to counter Chega, which she described as “a threat to democracy and fundamental rights.”
The Path Forward for the Left
The future of Portugal’s left hangs in the balance. The PS faces the risk of slipping to third place if votes from the Portuguese diaspora, still to be counted, tip the scales in Chega’s favor—a scenario that would mark the first time in nearly 40 years that the Socialists fail to finish in the top two. The PCP, meanwhile, must work to reclaim its traditional strongholds while addressing the concerns of a new generation grappling with precarity, the climate crisis, and rising inequality.
As the AD prepares to govern without a majority, the fragmented left faces a critical juncture. The PCP’s challenge is to remain true to its principles while adapting to a rapidly evolving political landscape. For now, its three seats serve as a reminder of the enduring relevance of its message—even as the broader left searches for a way to stem the far-right tide and rebuild its influence in Portugal.
