Portugal's Socialist Party Is Favourite to Win Sunday Polls

Portugal’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa is seeking re-election with opinion polls showing that his political organization, the Socialist Party (PS), is the most likely to win at the Oct. 6 elections.

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"Only the PS will guarantee four more years of stability, which will give hope and more confidence to the future of Portugal and the Portuguese," Costa said he said in a campaign closing act.

"Long live the PS. Long live Lisbon, Long live Portugal," he added.

PM Costa, whose management of the economic turnaround has been a hallmark of his government's four years in office, says the public budget deficit of 0,5 per cent is the lowest in more than 40 years. This country's sound macroeconomic performance, however, is not limited to such indicator.

After unemployment rate reached an all-time high of 17 percent in 2013, which happened as a result of the 2010 financial crisis, the Portuguese unemployment rate has been steadily decreasing to 6.4 percent in July.

Over the last two decades Portugal registered its best annual growth rate in 2017, when its gross domestic product increased to 3.5 percent.

For his next administrative period, Costa promised to address challenges related to low national birth rate, high cost of health care and climate change risks.

The Socialists have ruled Portugal as a minority government with the support of two eurosceptic parties since 2015.

According to a survey carried out by the Catholic University and published on October 2, the Socialist Party stood at 37 percent of voting intentions and the Social Democrats had 30 percent.

Under Portugal's proportional representation system, an absolute majority has previously been achievable with 42 percent to 45 percent of the vote.

Nevertheless, some local analysts hold that threshold could drop to 39 percent due to a growing distance between the top two parties and emergence of a new relevant player.​​​​​​​

"To remain in office the Socialist Party needs 116 seats. This majority depends on the support of either the Left Bloc, which is expected to get 17, or the Portuguese Communist Party, which will likely have 16," O Globo outlet reported.