Why Portugal’s troubled history of political crises will continue
Portugal has once again been plunged into a political crisis: the country is facing a snap election after its socialist-led government failed to pass its budget in the National Assembly yesterday. António Costa, who has led the country's minority government since November 2015, was brought down by the refusal of the PCP (communist party) and the Bloco de Esquerda (left block) to back his budget. This latest upheaval comes at a particularly bad time for Portugal, which is attempting to return to normality following 18 months of Covid lockdowns and closures.
