Madrid, 21 March 2024 (dpa/MIA) - Portugal's President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has appointed the conservative politician Luís Montenegro as the new prime minister, 11 days after parliamentary elections were held.

The President's Office in Lisbon announced the appointment on Thursday.

Montenegro's centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) received the most votes in the election and narrowly outperformed the Socialists, who had been in power for eight years.

After counting almost all the votes, including those from abroad, the conservatives only won around a third of the 230 seats in parliament.

The big winner of the election was André Ventura from the far-right party Chega (Enough) party, which more than quadrupled its number of seats.

As Montenegro has branded Chega a "xenophobic" and "racist" party and has repeatedly denied any cooperation with the populists, governing is likely to be very difficult for him.

As prime minister, he must now present his government programme to parliament. If he does not receive a majority for this, there would have to be fresh elections.

A "grand coalition" between conservatives and socialists is considered out of the question in Portugal. As in neighbouring Spain, the two main parties are separated by seemingly insurmountable differences.

MIA file photo