The first week of the 2025 elections' TV debates
Theopening debate was dominated by the allegations surrounding PM Luís Montenegro’s family business.
According to a report by Universal McCann (UM), the most-watched debate of the 2025 legislative campaign so far was the face-off between Mariana Mortágua, leader of the Left Bloc (BE), and Pedro Nuno Santos, Secretary-General of the Socialist Party (PS).
Aired on SIC on April 8, the debate drew a total of 1.388 million viewers, making it the most-watched program of the day. It recorded an average audience of 890,000 and a market share of 19.5%.
The second most-watched debate was between Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, leader of the center-right AD coalition (PSD/CDS), and Paulo Raimundo, leader of the Communist Party (CDU). In third place was the debate between Livre spokesperson Rui Tavares and far-right Chega leader André Ventura, broadcast on RTP3.
Despite solid numbers, all three debates fell short of last year’s viewership, indicating a possible decline in public engagement with this year’s election cycle—an early sign that voter turnout could be lower.
In 2024, the opening debate between Luís Montenegro and Mariana Mortágua garnered over 1.5 million viewers, with more than one million tuning in on average—figures that outperformed any of the 2025 debates so far.
Pedro Nuno Santos’ own 2024 debate debut, against Rui Rocha of the Liberal Initiative, ranked fifth overall, with a total viewership of 1.426 million and an average audience of 964,000—both slightly higher than his 2025 numbers against Mortágua.
The current series of televised debates began on Monday, April 7, and will run until April 28, concluding with a high-stakes face-off between the PS and the AD coalition on the country's major networks.
Montenegro-Raimundo debate dominated by controversy over PM’s family business
The opening debate of the legislative campaign, featuring Prime Minister Luís Montenegro (AD) and Communist Party leader Paulo Raimundo (CDU), was dominated by allegations surrounding Montenegro’s ties to his family’s business.
Raimundo repeatedly raised concerns about the overlap between the Prime Minister’s private interests and his public responsibilities.
“I have complied with all my declaratory obligations,” Montenegro responded, firmly rejecting any suggestion of wrongdoing.
“It is not true that I have benefited in any way from any company since taking public office,” he added.
Challenging the line of questioning, Montenegro asked: “What impact has my political career suffered from the fact that I had a professional background?”
He continued without waiting for a reply: “Doesn’t my family also have rights?”
Raimundo was quick to push back, urging the Prime Minister not to play the victim: “Don’t try to victimise yourself,” he said.
The CDU leader went on to accuse Montenegro of blurring the lines between private and public responsibilities, denouncing what he called a “profound confusion between private and public interests” and a “dangerous promiscuity between economic interests and political power.”
The exchange set a combative tone for the debates to come, highlighting the deep divisions between the two leaders on issues of ethics and governance.
Pedro Nuno Santos’ strategic voting appeal sparks tension with Mortágua
The televised debate between Pedro Nuno Santos, leader of the Socialist Party (PS), and Mariana Mortágua, coordinator of the Left Bloc (BE), was marked above all by Santos’ closing appeal to left-wing voters to cast a strategic vote for the PS.
In a debate marked by clear policy disagreements, it was this final message that triggered the most tension.
In his closing remarks, Santos emphasized the need for the PS to win the upcoming election in order to form a viable left-wing government: “There will only be an alternative to AD if the PS wins these elections.
Last year, the President of the Republic invited the party with the most votes to form a government, so we need to come first.”
Warning against the fragmentation of the left-wing vote, he cited the 2024 legislative elections, where the PS fell short by just 50,000 votes while the Left Bloc secured over 280,000: “Without a PS government, there can be no left-wing politics,” he stressed.
Mortágua was visibly irritated by the appeal for a “useful vote.” She countered firmly: “First place doesn’t determine everything.”
Directly addressing Santos, she added: “What you’re really saying is that your only alternative is Luís Montenegro.
You’re waiting to govern with the viability offered by Luís Montenegro. You’re proposing to solve the housing crisis with a program that doesn’t differ in any meaningful way from what’s already been tried.”
The exchange marked the most heated moment in a debate otherwise characterized by policy clashes and ideological distance.
Despite the sharp criticism, Mortágua reiterated her party’s openness to dialogue: “There is always room to reach an agreement with the Socialists.”
Ventura-Tavares Debate marked by immigration focus
The debate between André Ventura, leader of far-right party Chega, and Rui Tavares, spokesperson for the eco-socialist party Livre, was notably defined by Ventura’s repeated refusal to directly answer questions, instead steering nearly every topic back to immigration.
On the topic of healthcare, Ventura stated: “Chega’s solution is to give priority to the Portuguese people, not to those who come here for tourism. (…) We can’t have Indians and Pakistanis coming here for treatment,” he declared. Regarding the role of private providers in the health system, Ventura said he believes the National Health Service (SNS) “should be public, but work in synergy with the private sector.”
He later launched an attack on the Roma community, accusing Tavares and Livre of “wanting to hand out more and more houses to this community instead of to people who actually work.”
Ventura also referenced the U.S. president: “Donald Trump is doing in the United States what we should be doing here — defending our workers,” he said, in support of the American leader’s tariff policies. “I want to do like Trump: make Portugal great again. I believe in that. And it’s not with woke culture and ‘LGBTQ+i’ nonsense that we’ll get there. I would impose tariffs wherever necessary to defend our farmers,” he added, jumping from topic to topic.
Throughout the debate, Rui Tavares largely resisted engaging with Ventura’s provocations, but in his closing remarks, he struck back forcefully, saying that populist leaders like Ventura “are making the world go through a very dark time.”