Portugal - Politics - 2019 Election
The Portuguese general election must be held no later than October. At the last general election in 2015, the ruling Social Democrat Party (PSD) and Central Social Democratic-Popular Party (CDS-PP) coalition won the most votes, but not enough to form a government. The country's pro-austerity right-wing party, the Portugal Ahead coalition between the Social Democratic Party and the People's Party, led by former Prime Minister Passos Coelho, did take the majority of votes in the October 2015 election, but its minority government lasted only 11 days. Antonio Costa toppled the Portugal Ahead coalition with his anti-austerity campaign and a noncoalition alliance with far-left parties including the Left Bloc, the Communist Party and the Greens. The Socialist Party (PS) then pacted with the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Left Bloc (BE) to enable the PS to rule as a minority government.
Initially dismissed by the PSD as a fragile "contraption", the informal coalition proved a relative success. The bruising the PSD subsequently suffered at October 2017 municipal elections forced a change of tactics. The PSD elected a new leader in January 2018 in Rui Rio, who promised to collaborate with the PS in order to ensure key reforms be passed. Rio has since signed a number of cooperation agreements with PS prime minister Antonio Costa.
Meanwhile, there were rumblings of discontent within BE and PCP ranks, and not just about Costa flirting with the PSD. Promises made by the PS in order to gain BE and PCP support for the 2017 and 2018 budgets have not been entirely fulfilled.
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said on 07 May 2018 that he would be prepared to call an early general election if negotiations for the 2019 State Budget break down. "I deem the budget so fundamental that if it failed to be approved I would have to think twice about something else I consider essential to the country, and that is that this legislature be fulfilled to the end," he said in an interview with Radio Renascenca and Publico newspaper.
Negotiations for the 2019 State Budget were due to start in August 2018. Negotiations are likely to be "more complex than last year", said Rebelo de Sousa. Asked whether he envisaged a scenario whereby the BE and PCP vetoed the 2019 budget, but the PSD enabled it to pass, Rebelo de Sousa said: "I don't know, that's a question to put to the leader of the PSD."
But Rebelo de Sousa, himself a former PSD leader, added that "this is not a personal issue, it's an institutional one, and come what may there must be an approved budget ready to come into force on January 1, 2019".
Polls suggest that Costa and his Socialist Party (PS) will win the most seats but will fail to secure a parliamentary majority. The other main parties are the center-right Social Democrats (PSD) led by Rui Rio, the traditional Christian Democrat party, the People's Party (CDS) led by Assuncao Cristas, the Left Bloc (BE) led by Catarina Martins, and the Unitary Democratic Coalition headed by Jeronimo de Sousa, a political coalition between the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Greens. The elections were the 16th time that the Portuguese will be called to vote in legislative elections, with a record number of 20 political movements in the running.
Prime Minister Antonio Costa's Socialists (PS) came out on top of parliamentary elections held 06 October 2019, winning 36.5% of the vote. The party managed to expand its number of mandates in the 230-seat parliament but fell short of winning an absolute majority. Costa announced his plan to continue heading a minority government. Costa, a 58-year-old trained lawyer, declared victory, saying "we accept the task of ruling Portugal for the next four years with determination and responsibility." Costa, a former mayor of Lisbon, will need to seek support from other parties.
The main opposition party, the center-right Social Democrats (PSD) fell from 89 to 77 seats. Right-wing populists managed to win one seat in parliament — a first in a country where right-wing populist parties play no significant role. Over the previous legislative period, PS had been supported by the Marxist Left Bloc (BE) and the Green-Communist alliance, without a formal coalition agreement.
Portugal had been back on its feet economically since 2014 after accepting a bailout three years prior in the wake of the global financial crisis. A tourism boom has helped unemployment to its lowest levels since 2002. Costa has been lauded for balancing the budget without losing the support of the leftist parties that have propped up his government.
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
