Epress.am News from Armenia
Portugal’s Social Democrats unseated the Socialist government in an emphatic election victory Sunday, giving the center-right party a strong mandate to enact a grinding austerity program demanded in return for a 78 billion euro ($114 billion) international bailout, AP reports.
The Social Democratic Party elected 105 lawmakers in the 230-seat Parliament compared with 73 for the second-placed Socialists. The Social Democrat share represented about 39 percent of the vote. The center-left Socialists’ share was 28 percent.
Social Democrat leader Pedro Passos Coelho, who will likely become prime minister, said his government “will do everything in its power to overcome the great difficulties we face and also provide assurances that (Portugal) won’t be a financial burden” on Europe.
Passos Coelho, whose party begins a four-year term in government, said he intended to consult other parties about possible power-sharing to ensure a solid government, though he declined to offer details of his plans.
The Socialists, who have been in charge for the past six years of economic decline, have also given their blessing to the debt-reduction conditions for receiving the bailout from Portugal’s European partners and the International Monetary Fund.
The election — the country’s second in two years — came after months of political squabbles over how best to reduce the debt burden. Opposition parties refused to accept the Socialist government’s austerity plans, prompting the administration to resign and worsening Portugal’s financial plight.
Four seats elected by Portuguese living abroad are to be allocated in coming days.