“Following the parliamentary elections of last Sunday, 6 October, after hearing, in constitutional terms, the parties now represented in the new Assembly of the Republic, and taking into account the election results, the President of the Republic has nominated Dr. António Costa, secretary General of the PS, as Prime Minister of the XXII Constitutional Government “, reads a note published on the Presidency of the Republic’s website.


In the same note, it is stated that “after the official final results of the elections have been published, the first meeting of the new parliament and the appointment and inauguration of the Government will be followed, and within ten days of the nomination, the submission of the Government’s programme for consideration by the Assembly of the Republic “.


Portugal’s Socialist Party won Sunday’s legislative elections with 36.65 percent of the vote, giving it 106 seats in the new parliament in an election marked by the historic defeat of the right and the entry of three new parties in parliament.


According to data from the General Secretariat of the Ministry of Internal Administration, the Social Democratic Party came second in terms of votes, with 27.90 percent, giving it 77 seats.


The Left Bloc had 9.67 percent of the votes and 19 seats, the Communist-led CDU coalition 6.46 percent and 12 seats, the right-wing People’s Party (CDS-PP) 4.25 percent and five seats, People-Animals-Nature 3.28 percent and four seats, far-right party Chega 1.30 percent and one seat, the Liberal Initiative 1.29 percent and one seat, and left-green party Livre 1.09 percent and one seat.


The election night brought a bitter taste to the CDS, which is reduced to five deputies in the Assembly of the Republic. Rui Rio’s PSD also has one of its worst results with the Social Democrats reaching 27.9 percent of the votes and 77 deputies.


The Socialist Party thus won with 20 more than in the previous election four years ago, but 10 seats short of an outright majority, for which it would need at least 116 members of parliament.


Due to the lack of a majority the President called in all of the leaders of the parties for meetings following the elections before announcing Costa as Prime Minister for another term.


It is now down to Costa to open up talks with his far left allies from the Communist party and the Left Bloc, who he worked with in the previous legislature, or to negotiate with the environmentalist group People-Animals-Nature (PAN) Party and the new party Livre, to form a government. While a coalition option remains on the table, Costa has not ruled out working on a case by case situation within government instead.


Sunday’s legislative elections saw a positive result for female representatives, with 14 more women elected than in 2015, resulting in a total of 89 female MPs elected, 42 by the PS, 26 by the PPD / PSD, nine by the BE, five by the PCP-PEV, three by the CDS-PP, three by the PAN and one for Livre.


The entry of three new political forces into parliament and the rise of the PAN party also marked the night of the legislatures. Livre, Liberal Initiative and Chega each got their deputy in the Chamber, which for the first time also welcomes a deputy connoted with the far right, André Ventura, the leader of this third party.


Abstention rates also reached a new high in the legislature, reaching 45.5 percent.

Author

Originally from the UK, Daisy has been living and working in Portugal for more than 20 years. She has worked in PR, marketing and journalism, and has been the editor of The Portugal News since 2019. Jornalista 7920

Daisy Sampson