Center-right retains power in Portugal
Print Edition
Portugal鈥檚 ruling center-right coalition on Sunday won a general election seen as a referendum on its austerity policies, but near-complete results indicated it has lost its absolute majority in parliament.
Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho鈥檚 鈥淧ortugal Ahead鈥 coalition took 38.6 percent of the vote, according to the partial results, against 32.4 percent for the opposition Socialists of former Lisbon mayor Antonio Costa.
Costa, who campaigned on a promise of easing some of the painful reforms imposed on western Europe鈥檚 poorest country, was quick to concede defeat but ruled out stepping down as party leader.
鈥淭he Socialist Party did not achieve its stated objectives, and I take full political and personal responsibility,鈥 Costa told supporters in the capital.
However, he added: 鈥淚 will not be resigning.鈥
Sunday鈥檚 victory by the center-right, after four years of swingeing austerity that sent unemployment and emigration soaring, marks a rare case of a bailed-out country re-electing its government.
However, the coalition between the premier鈥檚 Social Democrats and the conservative Popular Party looks set to fall short of the 116 seats needed to control the 230-seat chamber, leaving them outnumbered by the Socialists and MPs from smaller parties.
Four seats to be decided by votes from abroad will be decided by October 14.
The Left Bloc, the sister party of Greece鈥檚 anti-austerity Syriza, looked on course for its best-ever result of 10.2 percent of the vote and 19 seats, up from its previous score of eight.
Passos Coelho campaigned on his record of having returned the country to fragile growth following one of the worst crises in its history and had warned that the Socialists could undo the progress.
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