LISBON, Portugal (AP) Portuguese voters angry about austerity punished the coalition government's senior party in municipal elections, deepening doubts over whether the debt-heavy eurozone country will be able to abide by the demands of its bailout and avoid asking for further financial help.
The center-right Social Democratic Party recorded
its worst local election defeat in more than two decades in Sunday's ballot. Meanwhile, the main opposition Socialist Party which wants less austerity and more investment in economic growth claimed its biggest success in the nationwide elections for mayors and councilors.
With almost all votes counted Monday, the center-left Socialists had 36 percent of the national vote compared with just 16 percent for the Social Democrats in races where their candidates stood alone rather than in alliances, official results showed.
The government has struggled to meet the terms of the 78 billion-euro ($105 billion) bailout granted two years ago. It has twice missed deficit reduction targets, and the Constitutional Court has blocked some planned reforms in the public sector.
Portugal is supposed to resume borrowing money on the open market in the middle of next year after correcting its public finances, but the three major international ratings agencies still classify its creditworthiness at junk status and the interest rate on its 10-year government bonds viewed as a reflection of investor confidence are close to 7 percent, which is seen as unaffordable.
