Socialists win legislative elections in Portugal – DW 30/01/2022
The Socialist Party (PS) broadened by the current one, António Costa, minister of delegations held in Portugal (3001/01) with an advantage, plus 43% of the votes first, with 43% of the votes cast, with 43% of the count carried out. Second, this would guarantee the party 100 to 118 seats out of the 230 in the Assembly of the Republic.
According to figures released by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the PS is the clear winner and may be close to the absolute majority. Opposition leader Rui Rio, of the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD), received just over 32% of the vote.
The extreme rightist Chega, who had a deputy in parliament, appears as the third force, with more than 7% of the votes in the partial, while the former partners on the left had worse results.
The Left Bloc, which was the third force in 2019, with almost 7%, would now fall to the fifth position, with less than 3%. The coalition of communists and greens would pass 4.6% from the latter to more than 3%.
Need for stable government
As Portugal’s legislative proposals, brought forward due to the disapproval of the 2022 budget proposal presented by social, were closed at 8 pm (local time; 4 pm in Brasília), with the closing of the voting centers in the Azores. Abstention, according to surveys, would be less than 51%, the number of invasions in 2019.
The provisional results contrast with the polls released in the last days of the campaign, which pointed to a technical tie between the PS and the PSD.
Although there is “a certain disenchantment with the socialists”, according to political scientist Marina Costa Lobo, from the University of Lisbon, the majority of the Portuguese electorate believes that António Costa has “more skills and experience in governing” than the Social Democrat leader, Rui River.
Under Costa, Portugal overcame, maintained fiscal austerity measures and employment at pre-pandemic levels. The country also has the highest level of immunization against Covid-19 in Europe, with 90% of its 10 million inhabitants fully vaccinated.
Alluding to the advantages of continuity, PS ads carried the slogan “Continue to follow.” The country needs a stable government, also to take full advantage of the 16.6 billion euro package from the European Union’s recovery fund, which it is due to receive until 2026.
av (EFE, AFP)