- According to forecasts, the ruling Socialist Party (PS) has won the parliamentary elections in Portugal.
- According to a voter survey by the state television station RTP, Prime Minister António Costa’s social-democratic PS received between 37 and 42 percent of the votes.
- The Socialists can even hope for an absolute majority in Parliament. According to estimates, at least 41 percent of the votes are necessary for this.
However, it is considered more likely that the 60-year-old Costa will continue to depend on the support of smaller left-wing parties. A grand coalition or far-reaching cooperation with the conservative-oriented Social Democratic Party (PSD) of leading candidate Rui Rio is considered very unlikely. Costas PS and Rios PSD are the two big traditional parties in Portugal.
According to the RTP forecast, the PSD again took second place with 30 to 35 percent. Other Portuguese media published similar figures in the evening shortly after the last polling stations in the Azores closed. At the TV station SIC, the PS came to 37.4 to 41.1 percent. In the previous election in autumn 2019, the PS won with 36.3 percent, the PSD received 27.8 percent.
Dispute over draft budget led to rupture
In the election campaign, Costa campaigned for a continuation of his previous policy: he wants to continue to promote the economy, reduce social inequalities – and at the same time stabilize public finances.
Costa has led two minority governments since late 2015, supported by smaller left-wing parties such as the Marxist Left Bloc (BE), the Communists (PCP) and the Greens (PEV). However, there was no formal coalition agreement.
The cooperation broke up last autumn when BE, PCP and PEV, together with the conservative opposition, rejected Costa’s draft budget for 2022 in parliament. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa then called new elections in early November.