The ballot will elect 230 MPs to parliament, where political parties will decide who forms the government.
Portugal’s president announced on Thursday he was dissolving parliament and calling mid-term elections for January 30 following the defeat of a minority socialist government in a crucial vote on the country’s spending plans.
The announcement was widely expected in a televised address to the nation. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa previously said Portugal would go to the ballot two years ahead of schedule if the government’s 2022 state budget proposal is rejected by parliament, which happened last week.
The ballot will elect 230 MPs to parliament, where political parties will decide who forms the government.
The election comes at a sensitive time for the country of 10.3 million people, as it moves toward launching some 45 billion euros ($52 billion) in aid from the European Union to help ignite the economy after the COVID-19 pandemic. is progressing.
Recent opinion polls suggest that the centre-left Socialist Party will win re-election, but will again fall short of a parliamentary majority.
Given the procedural requirements, a new state budget proposal may not come before Parliament until April. This could put the brakes on an economic rebound.
As things stand, the COVID-19 pandemic should not disrupt the election, although health officials have warned about a possible winter resurgence in Europe.
A popular mass vaccination campaign has helped Portugal, at the moment, have COVID-19 at large. The country has been reporting an average of less than 1,000 new cases a day since mid-September, with daily deaths in single figures.
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