Portugal’s Socialists Win Absolute Majority in Parliamentary Elections

Portugal’s Socialist Party, led by Prime Minister António Costa, won an absolute majority in the Sunday Jan. 30 elections, 117 of 230 seats, up from 109 seats won in the 2019 elections. Prior to the election it was leading a minority government with support from the Portuguese Communist Party and the Left Bloc. These two parties broke their support when they voted with the right-wing opposition to defeat the 2022 budget. According to the Guardian the PSP’s vote was higher than expected and is attributed to the party’s successful vaccination program and the handling of the economy. It had reversed many of the austerity policies of the center-right government that ruled up to 2015 after signing a memorandum with the European Union during the debt crisis.