This footage was filmed and produced 10 January 2024.

The centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) coalition, led by Luis Montenegro, won the elections in Portugal on Sunday. However, without enough support to govern alone, according to polling data released by Portugal's Ministry of Internal Administration.

With the count now complete, the official results confirm the predictions of the exit polls: a victory for the DP (29.49 percent and 79 seats). Meanwhile, the Socialist Party (PS) won 28.66 percent support and 77 seats.

The 51-year-old Montenegro is a seasoned MP, but without government experience, honest and competent, despite his lack of charisma. He became head of the opposition after the PS won with an absolute majority in the last legislative elections in January 2022.

With his imposing stature, dark hair, blue eyes, and dimples on his chin, he seemed destined to play a secondary role. However, the surprise resignation of Antonio Costa, implicated in a case of influence peddling, brought this lawyer by training to the fore.

After devoting his whole life to politics, at the age of 29 he was elected MP and honed his rhetoric to become head of the Social Democratic Party (PSD, centre-right) parliamentary group during his last period in power, between 2011 and 2015.

During this period, he strongly supported the implementation of a stringent fiscal austerity programme negotiated by Portugal with the EU-ECB-IMF 'troika' in exchange for a financial aid package, which prevented its bankruptcy during the eurozone debt crisis.

It is also worth noting that he is a Porto supporter. In that same coastal town, in fact, he worked as a lifeguard during his youth. He even joined the PSD youth movement, where he began his political career. After the results, he acknowledged that he has "well-founded expectations" that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will ask him to form a government.