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Portugal’s ruling socialists close to absolute majority after snap election

Portugal’s ruling socialists won the country’s parliamentary elections on Sunday and “almost certainly” won an absolute majority of seats after voters punished the the far-left party triggered the snap poll.

Center-left Socialist Party (PS) do Antonio Costa, the prime minister, polled nearly 42% of the vote with only 2% of constituencies counted, compared with 28% for the centre-right opposition.

Pedro Sánchez, Spain’s socialist prime minister, congratulated Costa on his victory, saying the result would help Iberia’s neighbors “give a socialist response” to Europe’s challenges Europe.

Rui Rio, leader of the center-right Social Democrats (PSD), the main opposition party, conceded defeat, saying he had called Costa to congratulate him.

State broadcaster RTP said PS would “almost certainly” win an absolute majority of at least 116 seats in the 230-seat parliament after votes from European Portuguese immigrants were counted in the vote. the coming days

The election results mark a major turning point for PS after polls had forecast a much tighter race. If the party lacks an absolute majority, Costa will be able to form a majority coalition with Livre, a small green party on the left that has pledged support.

The far-left partners who brought down Costa’s minority government mid-term by rejecting his already badly damaged 2022 budget, appear to have been chastised by voters for delaying a snap election .

The anti-capitalist Left Bloc (BE) and the former Protectionist Communist party (PCP), which sparked the political crisis by voting against Costa’s 2022 budget, were overtaken by two far-right parties. via.

Chega, a far-right populist, was elected as the third largest political force with about 7% of the vote, followed by the Liberal Initiative in fourth place with almost 5%.

Costa, who has succeeded in overturning austerity measures while maintaining fiscal austerity that has encouraged Europe’s centre-left, has said he would not put deficit targets at risk below pressure from leftist partners.

Voter turnout was above 57%, up from the previous election in 2019, even though Sunday’s vote was held amid peak Covid-19 infection rates. More than 800,000 voters, about 8% of the total, are isolated.

Those in isolation are officially allowed to vote in person, with their recommendation to cast their ballot an hour before polls close. “We have to show that nothing and no one can stop us,” Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the president of Portugal, said in a televised address urging people to vote.

The PS won a larger share of the vote than in previous elections in 2015 and 2019, increasing the likelihood that its next government will last for a full 4-year term.

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