Portugal holds third general election in three years

Incumbent Prime Minister and leader of the centre-right Social Democratic Party Luis Montenegro casts his ballot (Luis Vieira/AP)

Voters in Portugal returned to the polls on Sunday for a third general election in three years, as the country’s increasingly fragmented political landscape defies efforts to unite behind policies on issues such as immigration, housing and the cost of living.

Hopes that the ballot might end the worst spell of political instability in decades for the European Union country of 10.6 million people could be dashed, however.