Zürcher Nachrichten - Portugal's Socialists win election marked by far right gains: exit polls

EUR -
AED 4.325935
AFN 82.357243
ALL 97.98399
AMD 453.431688
ANG 2.107768
AOA 1080.017014
ARS 1450.427229
AUD 1.793247
AWG 2.122935
AZN 1.997299
BAM 1.955505
BBD 2.380911
BDT 144.658206
BGN 1.955923
BHD 0.444046
BIF 3512.826034
BMD 1.177773
BND 1.501455
BOB 8.148772
BRL 6.372108
BSD 1.179207
BTN 100.543853
BWP 15.577587
BYN 3.859119
BYR 23084.342213
BZD 2.368743
CAD 1.59885
CDF 3397.874053
CHF 0.933743
CLF 0.02848
CLP 1092.915346
CNY 8.439208
CNH 8.436662
COP 4704.753831
CRC 595.302733
CUC 1.177773
CUP 31.210973
CVE 110.24839
CZK 24.633081
DJF 209.98569
DKK 7.461195
DOP 70.488483
DZD 152.84189
EGP 58.119191
ERN 17.666588
ETB 162.662004
FJD 2.634912
FKP 0.864607
GBP 0.861717
GEL 3.203778
GGP 0.864607
GHS 12.205161
GIP 0.864607
GMD 84.212651
GNF 10224.416228
GTQ 9.066634
GYD 246.712831
HKD 9.244849
HNL 30.809228
HRK 7.535628
HTG 154.834701
HUF 398.833248
IDR 19066.606673
ILS 3.925039
IMP 0.864607
INR 100.573512
IQD 1544.747601
IRR 49613.669626
ISK 142.404731
JEP 0.864607
JMD 188.390818
JOD 0.835018
JPY 170.019723
KES 152.422098
KGS 102.996405
KHR 4733.226631
KMF 492.308889
KPW 1060.026619
KRW 1603.066682
KWD 0.359492
KYD 0.982739
KZT 612.719887
LAK 25408.848409
LBP 105658.681922
LKR 353.772197
LRD 236.43438
LSL 20.652289
LTL 3.477656
LVL 0.712423
LYD 6.349962
MAD 10.580206
MDL 19.858008
MGA 5179.197737
MKD 61.531403
MMK 2472.387612
MNT 4222.647074
MOP 9.534164
MRU 46.767954
MUR 52.964626
MVR 18.15224
MWK 2044.883246
MXN 21.963963
MYR 4.973723
MZN 75.329989
NAD 20.652026
NGN 1802.757376
NIO 43.393278
NOK 11.849293
NPR 160.867716
NZD 1.940637
OMR 0.452869
PAB 1.179222
PEN 4.199767
PGK 4.868246
PHP 66.498218
PKR 334.637723
PLN 4.242778
PYG 9401.46388
QAR 4.297453
RON 5.058651
RSD 117.184785
RUB 93.342502
RWF 1693.937607
SAR 4.416984
SBD 9.819001
SCR 17.278871
SDG 707.233697
SEK 11.264629
SGD 1.500547
SHP 0.925544
SLE 26.44087
SLL 24697.306053
SOS 673.895613
SRD 43.795447
STD 24377.514118
SVC 10.318314
SYP 15313.139886
SZL 20.661624
THB 38.074443
TJS 11.432432
TMT 4.133982
TND 3.430583
TOP 2.758461
TRY 46.92803
TTD 7.989695
TWD 34.113016
TZS 3120.162088
UAH 49.238073
UGX 4230.362672
USD 1.177773
UYU 47.242883
UZS 14848.76295
VES 128.934888
VND 30837.030102
VUV 140.094991
WST 3.064012
XAF 655.855407
XAG 0.031985
XAU 0.000352
XCD 3.182989
XDR 0.815674
XOF 655.84984
XPF 119.331742
YER 285.197805
ZAR 20.615373
ZMK 10601.361125
ZMW 28.448714
ZWL 379.242284
  • CMSC

    0.0900

    22.314

    +0.4%

  • CMSD

    0.0250

    22.285

    +0.11%

  • RBGPF

    0.0000

    69.04

    0%

  • SCS

    0.0400

    10.74

    +0.37%

  • RELX

    0.0300

    53

    +0.06%

  • RIO

    -0.1400

    59.33

    -0.24%

  • GSK

    0.1300

    41.45

    +0.31%

  • NGG

    0.2700

    71.48

    +0.38%

  • BP

    0.1750

    30.4

    +0.58%

  • BTI

    0.7150

    48.215

    +1.48%

  • BCC

    0.7900

    91.02

    +0.87%

  • JRI

    0.0200

    13.13

    +0.15%

  • VOD

    0.0100

    9.85

    +0.1%

  • BCE

    -0.0600

    22.445

    -0.27%

  • RYCEF

    0.1000

    12

    +0.83%

  • AZN

    -0.1200

    73.71

    -0.16%

Portugal's Socialists win election marked by far right gains: exit polls
Portugal's Socialists win election marked by far right gains: exit polls

Portugal's Socialists win election marked by far right gains: exit polls

Portugal's ruling Socialists won Sunday's early election by a wide margin but may still fall short of an outright majority while the far right made huge gains, exit polls showed.

Text size:

Prime Minister Antonio Costa's party received between 37 percent and 42.5 percent of the vote, compared to between 27 percent to 35 percent for the main opposition centre-right PSD, according to the polls for TV stations RTP, SIC and TVI.

That would give the Socialists 100 to 118 seats in the 230-seat parliament, up from 108 in the outgoing assembly.

A party needs at least 116 seats to have an absolute majority.

A significant development was the rise of upstart far-right party Chega, which won up to 8.5 percent of the vote, which could make it the third-biggest party in the assembly with six to 14 seats.

The party has from just one lawmaker in the outgoing assembly and its rise mirrors gains for other populist far-right formations elsewhere in Europe.

The early election came as the nation of around 10 million people tries to boost its tourism-dependent economy which has been badly hit by the pandemic.

A stable government is needed for Portugal to make the most of a 16.6 billion euros ($18.7 billion) package of European Union recovery funds it is due to receive by 2026.

Costa, 60, had said during the campaign that he planned to govern alone if the Socialists failed to secure a majority, negotiating support from other parties for laws on a case-by-case basis.

- Skills and experience -

Costa has relied on two far-left parties -- the left Bloc and the Communist Party -- to underpin two minority Socialist governments since 2015.

But the two formations turned against him in October and joined forces with the right to vote down his draft 2022 budget, prompting Sunday's early election.

The Socialists had a comfortable lead when the election was called but the PSD managed to close the gap as the polls neared.

But while there is a "certain disenchantment" with the Socialists, most voters feel Costa has "more skills and experience to govern" than PSD leader Rui Rio, said University of Lisbon political scientist Marina Costa Lobo.

Under Costa's watch, Portugal has rolled back austerity measures, maintained fiscal discipline and slashed unemployment to pre-pandemic levels.

The country also achieved the highest immunisation rate against Covid-19 in Europe, with over 90 percent of its population fully vaccinated.

But the PSD's Rio argues the economy -- which the Bank of Portugal projects grew by 4.8 percent last year -- should expand faster.

He had called for lower corporate taxes and privatisations to boost Portugal's competitiveness and spur growth.

Portugal's Socialist party is faring better than its peers in many other European nations such as Greece and France where they have been virtually wiped off the map in recent years.

A.Wyss--NZN