KEY POINTS
  • Defying all odds, Portugal's center-left Socialists won an outright parliamentary majority in Sunday's snap general election, securing a strong new mandate for Prime Minister Antonio Costa, a champion of balanced public accounts.
  • The result comes as a surprise after the Socialists had lost most of their advantage in recent opinion polls.
  • It could signal a chance for Portugal to have a stable government, contrary to most expectations.
Antonio Costa, Prime Minister of Portugal and leader of the Socialist party

Defying all odds, Portugal's center-left Socialists won an outright parliamentary majority in Sunday's snap general election, securing a strong new mandate for Prime Minister Antonio Costa, a champion of balanced public accounts.

The result, boosted by a higher than expected turnout despite the coronavirus pandemic, comes as a surprise after the Socialists had lost most of their advantage in recent opinion polls, and means Portugal will have a stable government to oversee the application of EU pandemic recovery funds.