Vivek
Menezes
After a decade of exemplary progressive governance under António Costa – the highly capable former prime minister of Goan origin – Portugal has decidedly moved to the right. Earlier this year in the third parliamentary elections in three years, Costa’s once-dominant Socialist Party dropped to just 58 seats, way behind the centre-right Democratic Alliance (88), and even falling to third behind the far-right Chega party (whose name means “Enough”). It was an astonishing result considering the openly ethno-nationalist and xenophobic new force debuted as recently as 2019, with just one seat to its name. Now it has 60, and at the heart of its ultraconservative allure is another rising star with ancestral roots in Goa. Just 26, Rita Maria Cid Matias is the main reason her oft-reviled party nonetheless won a third of voters under 35 (versus just 8% of over-65s). With far greater crossover appeal than her mentor, the mercurial demagogue André Ventura, this super-poised and pugnacious young leader represents the plausible future mainstream in her country, and perhaps beyond.
To be sure, Portugal’s embrace of what was very recently considered disreputable extremism is part of an overall global pattern that is also playing out in India, the USA, and many European countries grappling with similar compound crises that are making voters upset, anxious and angry. Everywhere, it is clear young people are desperate for change, and vulnerable to shape-shifting populists like Ventura, even if the status quo - including Portugal’s current prime minister Luís Montenegro – keeps warning about their “xenophobic, racist, and demagogic” tendencies. Like Trump – whose inauguration he attended in January – Ventura managed to overturn the prevailing order. “This marks a profound change in the political system,” he said after Chega’s latest leap, “nothing will ever be the same again.”
Matias – whose maternal grandmother is Goan from Mozambique - is actually much better set to benefit from the ongoing paradigm shift than her erratic boss. Ventura is constitutionally intemperate, but his bright young deputy is far more disciplined. What is more, she is a prominent scion of the Catholic right wing of Portuguese politics, via her father Manuel Matias, former leader of the Citizenship and Christian Democracy party which merged with Chega in 2019. That background makes her almost mainstream, and Matias sees herself that way: “They often call Chega extremist, fascist, racist, xenophobic. They try to equate us with National Socialism and other types of regimes that actually practiced ethnic persecution. And so, either we all start seriously considering how to respond to these challenges with public policies, or there may actually be someone with different values, who doesn't share everything we share, as the common ground of democracy, and that could have consequences. We talk so often about the Wolf and mention Chega and André Ventura, Rita Matias, or other representatives, and then when it actually comes along, we'll no longer be prepared to distinguish.”
This is template fearmongering – the ‘après moi le deluge’ stratagem – and it is unclear whether Matias will ever choose to exert any moderating influence on Ventura and Chega as they try to vault into control in Portugal. “The time for denial is over,” wrote Rahool Pai Panandiker in Observador after the election results, “It's not an accident, nor a whim of the electorate. It's the direct result of years of accumulated frustration—and of a
political and media class (the majority) that refused to listen. A political class ideologically trapped and media outlets more focused on sensationalism than subtlety.” He said in Lisbon today “there's one constant: an unease with the current situation and a growing, often whispered, hostility toward immigrants. The irony is that this discomfort is directed at me as well. I am simultaneously accepted and rejected. I speak the language, I know the customs, I contribute to the economy and culture—and yet I'm seen by many as ‘other.’”
Panandiker is the proud son of Margao, and an eminent naturalized citizen of Portugal who serves on the Portuguese Diaspora Council – he was first recruited to work there after his PhD at the Colorado School of Mines – and lives between Lisbon and Mumbai, where he is Managing Director and Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group. Via email, he told me “the rise of right-wing populist rhetoric, particularly from parties like Chega, is naturally concerning — not just for immigrant or minority communities, but for anyone who believes in building a pluralistic, inclusive society. One has to wait and see if there are layers to Chega’s hardline stance on immigration vis a vis qualified vs unqualified, Muslim vs non-Muslim, Portuguese speaking vs not, especially given that Portugal needs immigration. Chega has often used inflammatory language to gain electoral traction, framing immigration and diversity as threats rather than as strengths. While electoral success is a legitimate part of democratic politics, when it comes through the stoking of fear or division, one must be watchful. And while the nuances will eventually matter, the use of ire and rhetoric may create a climate of insecurity for all immigrants.”
What will he say when Rahool meets Rita – as will inevitably happen in tiny Portugal? I appreciate Panandiker’s wise response to the question: “Goan identity was never monolithic - it was always shaped by negotiation between worlds: Portuguese and Indian, Muslim, Catholic and Hindu, colonial and postcolonial. The Goan experience reminds us that communities thrive not by exclusion, but by finding new ways to live together. I hope she reflects on the fact that her family - and mine - were once outsiders who became insiders. The very concept of outsiders and insiders in a constantly migratory world is anachronistic. That the very idea of Lusofonia is grounded in movement, exchange, and shared stories. And that this common experience calls not for suspicion of others, but for compassion, balance, and responsibility. There is no contradiction in seeking strong, fair immigration policies while also showing compassion for those who come to Portugal hoping to build a better life. Empathy is not weakness - it is civic strength.”
(Vivek Menezes is a writer and co-founder of the Goa Arts and
Literature Festival)