Socialist Party wins re-election in Portugal

With 98.7% of votes counted, the Socialists had 41%, compared with 28% for their main rival, the centre-right Social Democratic Party, which took at least 68 parliamentary seats.

Portuguese Prime Minister and Socialist Party Secretary-General Antonio Costa waves to supporters. Picture: AP

Portugal’s centre-left Socialist Party has won a third straight general election, returning it to power as the country prepares to deploy billions of euro in EU aid for the economy after the Covid-19 pandemic.

In a ballot that took place amid a surge of coronavirus cases blamed on the Omicron variant, and with around one million infected voters allowed to leave home to cast their ballots, the Socialists elected at least 112 legislators in the 230-seat parliament.