FT: Surprise poll bounce-back for Portugal PM

(No plus side to this one, only frustration, get real PSD and get moving. Embarassing to think the key responsible can get re-elected-Sara)

The centre-left Socialists of José Sócrates, Portugal’s caretaker prime minister, have leapt forward in an opinion poll to overtake the main opposition party six weeks ahead of a snap election. According to the Marktest poll published on Thursday, the party has gained 11.5 percentage points over the past month to poll 36 per cent of voting intentions against 35 per cent for the centre-right Social Democrats (PSD), whose share fell by 12 points.

The poll comes a month after the PSD and other opposition parties voted down a government austerity package, forcing Mr Sócrates to resign and triggering an early election on June 5.The political crisis aggravated the country’s sovereign debt difficulties, causing Mr Sócrates to submit a formal request for a European Union-led bail-out two weeks ago, making Portugal the third eurozone member after Greece and Ireland to seek a financial rescue.

TSF radio, one of the media groups that commissioned the poll, described the gain by the Socialists as a “historic recovery”.
The PSD, which Mr Sócrates blames for the political crisis and the bail-out, had previously enjoyed a strong lead in the polls. Since last September it had been consistently forecast to win an overall majority in parliament in coalition with the Popular party (CDS-PP), a small conservative group.
According to Thursday’s poll, however, neither a coalition of these two parties nor the Socialists would win an overall majority in parliament, raising the possibility of further political uncertainty after the June election.

In a separate poll for the Diário Económico newspaper earlier this week, 71 per cent of people surveyed said it was “very important” that Portugal had a majority government after the election. For the past two years, the Socialists have governed with a minority that can be defeated by the combined votes of the opposition.
According to the Diário Económico poll, almost 65 per cent of those questioned blamed Mr Sócrates most for the crisis and 58 per cent said the PSD should be part of the next government.

Pedro Passos Coelho, the PSD leader, has said he would be prepared to form a coalition with the Socialists, but not while Mr Sócrates was the party’s leader. However, more than 97 per cent of delegates to a Socialist party conference two weeks ago backed Mr Sócrates as their leader and candidate for re-election as prime minister.

In an editorial on Thursday, the Público newspaper said crises within the two main political parties and their failure to reach compromise agreements with each other were the main causes of Portugal’s political and economic difficulties.
The Socialists had closed ranks behind Mr Sócrates and “obliterated internal debate”, the paper said. Conversely, internal divisions within the PSD and a series of “own goals” were threatening what should be “an easy election victory” for the centre-right party.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/93c8ae48-6bfa-11e0-b36e-00144feab49a.html#ixzz1KAD1bYNM