The Prague Post - Portugal's Socialists win election marked by far right gains: exit polls

EUR -
AED 4.288018
AFN 79.960491
ALL 97.655834
AMD 447.991031
ANG 2.089265
AOA 1070.536389
ARS 1466.010684
AUD 1.774673
AWG 2.104298
AZN 1.989113
BAM 1.948021
BBD 2.358681
BDT 142.052765
BGN 1.954873
BHD 0.440054
BIF 3480.601501
BMD 1.167433
BND 1.493935
BOB 8.101649
BRL 6.45999
BSD 1.168135
BTN 100.037537
BWP 15.565844
BYN 3.822935
BYR 22881.692399
BZD 2.34653
CAD 1.599121
CDF 3369.212857
CHF 0.931081
CLF 0.028903
CLP 1109.131781
CNY 8.37668
CNH 8.370812
COP 4688.061845
CRC 589.147457
CUC 1.167433
CUP 30.936982
CVE 110.614641
CZK 24.642994
DJF 207.476327
DKK 7.461288
DOP 70.282823
DZD 151.516417
EGP 57.795885
ERN 17.511499
ETB 158.041295
FJD 2.61651
FKP 0.859421
GBP 0.862062
GEL 3.163585
GGP 0.859421
GHS 12.172506
GIP 0.859421
GMD 83.47586
GNF 10105.302712
GTQ 8.974165
GYD 244.404062
HKD 9.164217
HNL 30.762193
HRK 7.531349
HTG 153.267981
HUF 399.054413
IDR 18942.422263
ILS 3.870863
IMP 0.859421
INR 100.254385
IQD 1529.337604
IRR 49163.53233
ISK 142.812139
JEP 0.859421
JMD 186.684544
JOD 0.827685
JPY 171.492461
KES 151.182498
KGS 102.091773
KHR 4694.249027
KMF 492.073956
KPW 1050.678224
KRW 1606.855277
KWD 0.356897
KYD 0.973513
KZT 606.020082
LAK 25134.838563
LBP 104602.022084
LKR 350.918735
LRD 234.654211
LSL 20.698243
LTL 3.447127
LVL 0.706169
LYD 6.298301
MAD 10.509823
MDL 19.765075
MGA 5171.7296
MKD 61.513833
MMK 2451.086777
MNT 4187.3557
MOP 9.445583
MRU 46.346608
MUR 53.071115
MVR 17.981869
MWK 2027.250221
MXN 21.798238
MYR 4.971509
MZN 74.668855
NAD 20.698468
NGN 1786.896443
NIO 42.902987
NOK 11.790972
NPR 160.05986
NZD 1.941435
OMR 0.448883
PAB 1.168135
PEN 4.139675
PGK 4.81537
PHP 65.933107
PKR 332.133115
PLN 4.256895
PYG 9053.846801
QAR 4.250157
RON 5.078568
RSD 117.149625
RUB 90.598648
RWF 1674.099332
SAR 4.378468
SBD 9.720618
SCR 17.133342
SDG 701.04933
SEK 11.117426
SGD 1.496083
SHP 0.917419
SLE 26.273855
SLL 24480.496562
SOS 667.187612
SRD 43.624632
STD 24163.511975
SVC 10.221185
SYP 15178.886357
SZL 20.699111
THB 37.973688
TJS 11.302069
TMT 4.097691
TND 3.384065
TOP 2.734243
TRY 46.898725
TTD 7.932325
TWD 34.173688
TZS 3070.349466
UAH 48.892665
UGX 4186.28362
USD 1.167433
UYU 47.460484
UZS 14782.626389
VES 132.43128
VND 30481.683088
VUV 139.442741
WST 3.2116
XAF 653.348095
XAG 0.031207
XAU 0.00035
XCD 3.155047
XDR 0.811849
XOF 651.427065
XPF 119.331742
YER 282.343854
ZAR 20.755195
ZMK 10508.302466
ZMW 27.364729
ZWL 375.913042
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Portugal's Socialists win election marked by far right gains: exit polls
Portugal's Socialists win election marked by far right gains: exit polls

Portugal's Socialists win election marked by far right gains: exit polls

Portugal's ruling Socialists won Sunday's early election by a wide margin but may still fall short of an outright majority while the far right made huge gains, exit polls showed.

Text size:

Prime Minister Antonio Costa's party received between 37 percent and 42.5 percent of the vote, compared to between 27 percent to 35 percent for the main opposition centre-right PSD, according to the polls for TV stations RTP, SIC and TVI.

That would give the Socialists 100 to 118 seats in the 230-seat parliament, up from 108 in the outgoing assembly.

A party needs at least 116 seats to have an absolute majority.

A significant development was the rise of upstart far-right party Chega, which won up to 8.5 percent of the vote, which could make it the third-biggest party in the assembly with six to 14 seats.

The party has from just one lawmaker in the outgoing assembly and its rise mirrors gains for other populist far-right formations elsewhere in Europe.

The early election came as the nation of around 10 million people tries to boost its tourism-dependent economy which has been badly hit by the pandemic.

A stable government is needed for Portugal to make the most of a 16.6 billion euros ($18.7 billion) package of European Union recovery funds it is due to receive by 2026.

Costa, 60, had said during the campaign that he planned to govern alone if the Socialists failed to secure a majority, negotiating support from other parties for laws on a case-by-case basis.

- Skills and experience -

Costa has relied on two far-left parties -- the left Bloc and the Communist Party -- to underpin two minority Socialist governments since 2015.

But the two formations turned against him in October and joined forces with the right to vote down his draft 2022 budget, prompting Sunday's early election.

The Socialists had a comfortable lead when the election was called but the PSD managed to close the gap as the polls neared.

But while there is a "certain disenchantment" with the Socialists, most voters feel Costa has "more skills and experience to govern" than PSD leader Rui Rio, said University of Lisbon political scientist Marina Costa Lobo.

Under Costa's watch, Portugal has rolled back austerity measures, maintained fiscal discipline and slashed unemployment to pre-pandemic levels.

The country also achieved the highest immunisation rate against Covid-19 in Europe, with over 90 percent of its population fully vaccinated.

But the PSD's Rio argues the economy -- which the Bank of Portugal projects grew by 4.8 percent last year -- should expand faster.

He had called for lower corporate taxes and privatisations to boost Portugal's competitiveness and spur growth.

Portugal's Socialist party is faring better than its peers in many other European nations such as Greece and France where they have been virtually wiped off the map in recent years.

Q.Fiala--TPP