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Portugal held early elections on January 30 after Parliament voted against the budget last October, which led to a political crisis that forced President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to call the elections. Contrary to what was thought, the turnout was higher than that recorded in 2019 and the first polls point to the Socialist Party (PS), led by Prime Minister António Costa, as the big winner.
According to preliminary figures, some 10.8 million Portuguese were authorized to participate in the process, but according to data issued by the Ministry of Internal Administration (MAI), by 4:00 p.m. local time they had demonstrated in the some 4.9 million people polled, which translates into 45.66% of the electoral register.
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For its part, regarding the closure of the process, the Sociedade Independente de Comunicação (SIC) calculated the abstention figure between 45 and 49%, this data being better than that registered in the 2019 elections when non-participation reached 51% of the voters, this participation rate being the highest in the last five legislative elections.
The high number of infections by Covid-19 in Portugal, which according to official figures has 597,879 active cases, was the main reason why voters would not move to participate.
To prevent fear of the coronavirus from being an impediment, the authorities enabled an exclusive slot for voters with a positive diagnosis (among some 800,000 of voting age) in the last hour before closing, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
In addition, the candidates called on the people to attend the vote and guaranteed health security.
Around 19:00 local time the tables on the mainland and Madeira had closed completely. For their part, the schools in the Azores did so one hour later (8:00 p.m. local time).
The Socialist Party is emerging as the winner of the day
According to the EFE news agency, which cites the first polls, the Socialist Party (PS) of current Prime Minister António Costa would be the clear winner of the early legislative elections held in Portugal.
On the other hand, the publication ‘Europa Press’ emphasizes the survey published by the Portuguese public television RTP that gives the PS between 102 and 116 deputies when the absolute majority is 115. On the other hand, a study prepared by the University Católica grants Costa’s party between 37 and 42% of the votes.
Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition, Rui Rio, of the Social Democratic Party (PSD, with a center-right ideal) would have obtained just over 32% of the vote.
However, these first results contradict the polls previously released, especially on the last days of the campaign, and which indicated a technical tie between the two mentioned parties.
At the Hotel Altis, the place chosen by the members of the PS to wait for the results, the night has been one of celebration. There, Prime Minister Costa has been confident but cautious about the data that is beginning to arrive.
“I’m not a commentator, so I don’t have to make scenarios. I will work with what the Portuguese want, I will respect it and I will calmly wait for it to be known,” Costa told the Portuguese outlet ‘Correio da Manhã’.
However, these first results would not be the most favorable for the parties that had formed an alliance with the PS. ‘El Bloco de Esquerda’, third force in 2019 with almost 7%, would fall to fifth position with just under 3%, and the coalition of communists and greens would go from 4.6% in the last legislative elections to just over 3 %.
“This election was provoked by the PS to have an absolute majority,” said the member of the Bloco de Esquerda, Francisco Louçã.
Why were early elections held in Portugal?
The political crisis in Portugal had its origin in October 2021 when the political parties of the left and right blocked the budget for the year 2022.
In this way, the divorce of the unprecedented parliamentary alliance between parties of the Portuguese left that brought Antonio Costa to power against all odds in 2015 began.
In December of that same year, the president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, ended up signing the decree to dissolve the Parliament and the call for early elections.
This Sunday, when he was voting, Rebelo de Sousa was asked if the decision to dissolve Parliament was correct, to which he replied “what is done is done and we have to look to the future”.
With EFE and Portuguese media