Portugal’s Socialists, led by incumbent Prime Minister Antonio Costa, win re-election but still fall short of majority
- Costa’s Socialist Party (PS) took 37 per cent of the vote, with watchers keen to see who he chooses as allies to stay in power
Portugal’s incumbent Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s Socialists won a general election on Sunday after presiding over a period of solid economic growth following years of austerity, near total results showed.
The Socialist Party (PS) took 37 per cent of the vote, followed by the centre-right Social Democrats (PSD) with 28 per cent, with 98 per cent of constituencies counted, according to the interior ministry.
That means the PS, which has governed for the past four years with the support of two smaller hard-left parties, will increase its presence in the 230-seat parliament but still fall just shy of an outright majority once all seats in the assembly are awarded.
The results buck the trend of declining centre-left fortunes and the rise of far-right populist forces seen elsewhere in Europe.
The question now is who Costa, 58, a former Lisbon mayor, will pick as his allies to stay in power.
