Portugal: At 2-3 percentage points the difference between Socialists and Social Democrats

A longtime favorite in Sunday’s election in Portugal, outgoing Prime Minister Antonio Costa’s Socialists are a short-lived leader of the opposition Social Democratic Party, according to two opinion polls released today, the last day of the election campaign.

According to a poll published in the weekly Expresso, the Socialist Party (PS), which has been in power since 2015, secured 35% of the vote, compared to 33% for the Social Democratic Party (PSD) of the former mayor of Porto Roui. Rio.

According to a poll by the Publico newspaper, the PS can secure 36%, compared to 33% of the PSD.

To the extent that the difference remains within the limits of statistical error, the two newspapers describe the situation as a “technical draw”.

The race is also expected chest-to-chest and in terms of parliamentary seats, as either party can claim electoral victory, according to opinion polls.

Behind the two parties that have ruled Portugal since the advent of democracy in 1974, opinion polls show four parties with 5% to 6% of the vote.

At the far right and right, Chega’s radical populists and liberals are expected to rise sharply after entering Parliament in 2019 with a single MP.

On the part of the radical left, the former allies of the Socialist Party – the Left Bloc and the Communist-Green coalition – risk being punished for rejecting the 2022 budget, which also led to the early proclamation.

Antonio Costa came to power in 2015 thanks to the parliamentary support of these left-wing parties, but did not renew these agreements after the 2019 elections, which he won with 36.3% of the vote, but abstained 8 seats from the parliamentary majority. .

SOURCE: ΑΠΕ-ΜΠΕ