Basta! (coalition)

Not to be confused with ¡Basta Ya!.
For the São Tomé and Príncipe political party, see Basta (São Tomé and Príncipe).
Enough!
Chega!
LeaderAndré Ventura
Founded12 April 2019
Dissolved30 July 2019
Ideology
Political positionRight-wing to far-right[2][3]
European Parliament groupEuropean Christian Political Movement
Member partiesChega
People's Monarchist Party
Citizenship and Christian Democracy
Exits:
Democracy 21

Basta (lit. 'Enough') was a right-wing populist[4][2][3] party coalition in Portugal, formed by the political party Chega, the People's Monarchist Party, and the Citizenship and Christian Democracy party. The Democracy 21 movement was also a part of the coalition on the European elections, but decided to quit shortly after because of the proposal of the Citizenship and Christian Democracy party to revoke the law permitting abortion.[5]

The coalition was formed in order to participate in the 2019 European elections, joining several formations from the Portuguese political right. The coalition embodies the wide range of ideologies advocated by the different parties that make it up: the conservatism defended by all, the populism and nationalism of the Chega party, the monarchism of the People's Monarchist Party, the Christian democracy of the Citizenship and Christian Democracy party and the economic liberalism defended by the Democracy 21 political movement.

History

The plans for the coalition started in March 2019 when the Chega party was not approved at the Constitutional Court of Portugal.[6] André Ventura wanted to participate in the European elections, and, as he thought the party would not be approved before the elections, he had the idea to join the People's Monarchist Party and the Citizenship and Christian Democracy party in order to be able to participate in the European elections.[7]

Meanwhile, Chega was approved as a political party. On 1 April 2019, the parties asked for the first time to the Constitutional Court to run together in a single list under the name Chega (another way of saying "Enough", synonym for Basta). Such a coalition was rejected by the Court because it couldn't bear the same name of one of its member parties. A slightly different name was put forward, Coligação Chega ("Enough Coalition"), but it was also refused for the same reason.[8] The following proposal, Europa Chega (literally "Europe Enough"; for it to have any meaning such as "Enough Europe" or "Enough, Europe" it would have to be "Chega de Europa" and "Europa, Chega", respectively), submitted on 10 April, was also rejected, because of the same issue.[9]

On 12 April, Ventura admitted he would no longer be the leader of the coalition if it was rejected one more time by the Constitutional Court. This time, the Coligação Basta (Enough Coalition; Basta being just another way of saying "Enough") was approved.[10][11]

Member parties

Party/movement Leader Ideology Spectre
Chega André Ventura Portuguese nationalism and populism Right-wing to far-right[2][3]
People's Monarchist Party Gonçalo da Câmara Pereira Monarchism Right-wing
Citizenship and Christian Democracy Party Manuel Matias Christian democracy Right-wing

Electoral results

Results since 2019 (year links to election page)
Year Type of Election Votes % Mandates
2019
European Parliament
49,388
1.49%
0 / 21

References

  1. ^ "Manifesto of the party". Chega (in Portuguese). Retrieved 8 May 2019.
  2. ^ a b c Almeida, São José (2019-01-26). "Chega um partido populista de extrema-direita a Portugal" [A far-right populist party has arrived in Portugal]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-05-18.
  3. ^ a b c "'Politico' sublinha pouca adesão de Portugal ao movimento populista" ['Politico' highlights poor adhesion of Portugal to the populist movement]. Jornal Expresso (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-05-29. News article on the campaign for Europeans Elections refers to the meager chance that the coalition "Basta!" to elect a MEP and advances the reasons for the country to resist the wave of far-right that reached the rest of Europe.
  4. ^ Marinho, António Luís. "Populist (A)ventura". SAPO (in Portuguese). Retrieved 8 May 2019. Os populistas devem ser criticados pelo que são: um verdadeiro perigo para a democracia
  5. ^ "Basta. Democracia21 deixa coligação devido a petição para penalizar aborto" [Basta. Democracia21 leaves coalition thanks to petition to punish abortion]. ionline (in Portuguese). 18 June 2019. Retrieved 2019-06-23.
  6. ^ Martins, Ruben (7 March 2019). "Chega entregou assinaturas irregulares e de menores no Tribunal Constitucional" [Chega handed over irregular and juvenile signatures to the Constitutional Court]. Público (in Portuguese). Portugal. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
  7. ^ Sempaio, Gustavo (2019-03-26). "André Ventura diz que a coligação Chega "é a primeira que vai abalar o sistema da República desde o 25 de abril"" [André Ventura says that Chega's coalition "is the first that will shake the system of the Republic since April 25"]. O Jornal Económico (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  8. ^ Viegas, Nuno (2 April 2019). "Coligação do Chega recusa-se a mudar o nome para as Eleições Europeias após chumbo do Tribunal Constitucional" [Coalition of the Chega refuses to change the name to the European Elections after lead of the Constitutional Court]. Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-04-30.
  9. ^ Viegas, Nuno (10 April 2019). "Europa Chega, coligação de André Ventura recusada (novamente) pelo Tribunal Constitucional" [Europa Chega, André Ventura's coalition, refused (again) by Constitutional Court]. Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  10. ^ Ropio, Nuno Miguel (12 April 2019). "André Ventura tem OK do Constitucional: coligação "Basta!" foi aprovada" [André Ventura has OK from the Constitutional: Coalition "Basta!" was approved]. jn.pt (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2019-05-08.
  11. ^ "Tribunal Constitucional aceita partido Chega de André Ventura" [Constitutional Court accepts Chega Party of André Ventura]. Público (in Portuguese). Portugal. 10 April 2019. Retrieved 2019-05-08.