BERLIN – When António Costa became prime minister of Portugal in 2015, sceptics dismissed his government as a rickety “geringonça”, or “contraption”. His centre-left Socialist Party had come second in the election and had only gained power when a short-lived conservative government collapsed and the country’s president reluctantly turned to the the left as an alternative. To some concern at home and abroad, it relied on the support of two hard-left parties, the Communist Party and the Left Bloc, with no experience of national government. It did not look likely to last very long or enjoy much success.
Yet not only did Costa’s “geringonça” survive, but his party has now triumphed. The party rose into first place at the general election in 2019 and then advanced further at a snap election yesterday, triggered when the understanding with the two smaller parties broke down, taking won 41.7% of the vote. One debatable Maltese exception aside, this represents the best result for a western European left-of-centre party since the eruption of the eurozone crisis in late 2009.
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