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Portugal veers right

The social democratic leader Passos Coelho, with 38,6% of the votes for the policies, will lead the new executive in Lisbon. Restoring confidence in international markets is the priority at the beginning of the mandate. Former premier Socrates also leaves the Socialist Party.

The Portuguese right glides comfortably in the wake of the forecasts: as predicted by the polls, the center-right won yesterday's legislative elections. The Social Democratic Party, led by Pedro Passos Coelho, gained 38.7% of the votes. And the 46-year-old leader will be the country's next premier, while former premier José Socrates, who resigned from the government at the end of March, is leaving the Socialist Party.

“We will do everything we can – Coehlo immediately declared – to honor the agreements between the Portuguese state, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund, to make Portugal return the foreign aid we needed and regain the confidence of the markets ”.
Coelho's Social Democrats will govern in coalition with the other centre-right party, the Centro Democratico Sociale. The Parliament of Lisbon is unicameral and is made up of 230 members: 105 are the seats for the social democrats, 73 for the socialists, 24 for the Centro Democratico Sociale.

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