Can Portugal’s Socialists, Governing Alone, Prove Skeptics Wrong Again?

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa and his ruling Socialist Party scored a solid victory in parliamentary elections earlier this month, capturing roughly 37 percent of the vote and expanding their plurality in parliament from 86 to 106 seats. However, the Socialists fell short of the 116 seats needed for a majority, and are foregoing the formal support agreements with smaller left-leaning parties that allowed them to govern over the past four years. That means they will have to negotiate with other parties on an ad hoc basis in order to enact legislation. In an email interview with WPR, Sofia Serra-Silva, […]