LISBON (Reuters) – Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates, won a second term in general elections Sunday, but as expected his center-left party lost its absolute majority in parliament.
Socrates, 52, won about 37 percent of the vote, down from 45 percent reached in the 2005 elections.
That will force you to decide whether to govern alone with a minority government or a coalition in parliament directly negotiate on a case by case basis.
In a speech in which he acknowledged his victory, Bush was careful to maintain their options open.
The people voted and spoke clearly, the Socialist Party was elected again to rule Portugal, Socrates said, adding it was too early to talk about coalitions or pacts.
Socrates said that only after consulting the chairman and other political parties in mid-October, everyone will know what the political situation.
Rival Socrates, Manuela Ferreira Leite, 68, whose campaign promised strong government spending adjustments, won nearly 29 percent of the votes, almost unchanged from what was achieved by his party in 2005.
Analysts said a minority government was the most likely choice.
probably form a government on their own and at least in the first year should have some stability, with the main opposition obviously weakened by the results of the election, said political scientist Antonio Costa Pinto.
Left Block, one of the potential allies of Socrates, was consolidated as The big winner of the election, winning 10 percent of the vote from 6.3 percent in 2005.
With 99 percent of the vote counted, the Socialists retained 96 seats in the new parliament, well short of the 121 currently have the total of 230 seats.
The highest rate of unemployment since the 1980s and the worst economic crisis in several years have not been sufficient to ward off the Portuguese center-left Socialists, who conducted several market reforms and to repair the public accounts in his first term.
However, there have majority in parliament may complicate the ability of Socrates to address reforms, but analysts are cautious.
On issues such as social security reform socialists could use the left parties. Socrates, as the left, consider giving the government a greater role in the economy through projects to create jobs.
But the left opposes the economic policies of Socrates, nice to market, including privatization.
While the global economic crisis is causing debt levels soar again, Ferreira Leite warned the government that spending should be drastically reduced.
But Socrates has pledged a series of major infrastructure projects, to win votes, such as connecting high-speed train with Spain and a new airport in Lisbon to create jobs and generate robust economic growth.
this year is expected the economy to contract by up to 4 percent in the poorest country in Western Europe, where GDP per capita is EUR 15,600, almost half the European average of 28,300 euros.
(Translated by Madrid Writing, editing by Elizabeth Piper Spanish /Ines Guzman)
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