The center-right Democratic Alliance (AD) won the parliamentary elections held yesterday, Sunday, in Portugal, said the head of Luís Montenegroalthough it is not clear whether he will succeed in forming a government without the support of the far-right Chega party, with which it has reiterated its refusal to negotiate.

“We are ready to start governing” and “change politics,” Montenegro told supporters gathered at a hotel in Lisbon.

“With a high sense of responsibility I will declare to the president of the Republic our desire to govern”, he added.

According to the results so far, AD will not be able to form a stable government on its own. However, Montenegro reiterated that refuses to govern Portugal with the support of a far-right party, Chega, which made big gains in yesterday’s election.

“I made a commitment during my election campaign and obviously I will keep my word,” he assured. “The implementation of our policy should go through dialogue,” Montenegro added, asking “the parties to take their responsibilities.”

Earlier the head of the Socialist Party (PS) Pedro Nuno Santos conceded defeat for his party, which has been in power since 2015. He ruled out supporting AD’s proposals, which include big tax cuts.

The AD and its conservative allies in the autonomous region of Madeira collected at least 79 seats, slightly more than the PS (77), out of a total of 230 seats. In the meantime Chega almost quadrupled its seats, winning at least 48.

Santos he stressed that his party will lead the opposition, which he said cannot be left in Chega’s hands. For its part, Montenegro expressed the hope that PS and Chega “do not form a negative alliance to prevent the government that the Portuguese want”.

The result of the elections in Portugal demonstrates the shift of Europe to the extreme right, notes the Reuters agency.

Chega campaigned on anti-establishment messages while pledging to fight corruption and expressing hostility to what it called “excessive” immigration.

Party leader Andre Ventura told reporters yesterday that the election result “clearly shows that the Portuguese want an AD government with Chega.”

He had earlier pointed out that Montenegro would be responsible for any political instability in the country if it continued to refuse to negotiate with his party.