Leader of the opposition? For the Portuguese, there are two

The leader of the Socialist Party (PS), Pedro Nuno Santos, is no longer the only main opposition figure, according to a new barometer.

Pedro Nuno Santos and André Venturaleader of Chega, are tied for the opposition in the most recent Aximage barometer for .

The socialist general secretary, who just a month ago stood out as the main opposition figure, with 51% of preferences, saw his support drop to 39%, now tying with Venturawhich in the previous survey reached 32%.

Pedro Nuno only joined the CDU

The fall of Pedro Nuno Santos is explained by the decrease in support among voters of almost all parties, with exception of the CDUwhere the socialist managed to increase his popularity, from 60% to 64%. In the other parties, the losses are noted in the numbers: PS (69% to 61%), AD (57% to 40%), BE (53% to 44%), Livre (59% to 44%), PAN (40 % to 18%), IL (45% to 25%) and Chega (20% to 13%).

A support break is transverse: it is also evident in all regions of the country, among all age groups and social classes.

Everything the same in the race

The new barometer has not recorded significant changes in voting intentions since the March Legislature.

The three main parties – AD, PS and Chega – remain technically the same. The Democratic Alliance (AD) would have 29.8% of voting intentions, slightly above the 28.8% obtained in March. The PS also registered a slight increase, going from 28% to 28.6%. Chega maintains practically the same result: 18.2%, compared to 18.1% in March.

The most striking finding of this research is the projection of significantly lower abstention, estimated at 21.6%, well below the 40.16% registered in the last elections. This value would be the lowest since 1983.

The Liberal Initiative (IL) consolidated itself as the fourth political force, rising from 4.9% in March to 6.8%. Livre also grew slightly, reaching 4.1%. On the other hand, the Left Bloc (BE) fell to 4% after a one-off increase in October. The CDU and PAN registered fluctuations within the margin of error, but with a downward trend.

And by regions?

AD remains strong in the Center (rising to 32.1%), but has lost influence in the South and Islands and in the Porto Metropolitan Area.

The PS maintains an advantage in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area and in the South and Islands, but recorded losses in the Center.

Chega grew in the North and in the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, but lost strength in Porto and the Center.

Ministers

Prime Minister Luís Montenegro was the only leader with a positive evaluationwhile the Minister of Health faces a more negative assessment.

Among the ministers, only Fernando Alexandre and Fernando Medina are considered “positive”.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa managed to recover ground after a negative performance in October.