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A general election was held in Portugal on 5 June 2011 to elect all 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic. Pedro Passos Coelho led the centre-right Social Democratic Party to victory over the Socialist Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister José Sócrates.〔"(Portugal PM quits after losing austerity vote )", ''Al Jazeera'', 23 March 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2011.〕 Despite a historically low turnout of less than 60% of registered voters, the right-wing won a clear mandate, winning nearly 130 MPs, more than 56% of the seats, and just over 50% of the vote. While the People's Party, continuing the trend they began in 2009, earned their best score since 1983, the Social Democrats exceeded the expected result in the opinion polls and won the same number of seats as they did in 2002, when the PSD was led by José Manuel Durão Barroso. Of the twenty districts of the country, Pedro Passos Coelho's party won seventeen, including Lisbon, Porto, Faro and the Azores, which has been governed by the Socialists since 1996. The defeat of the PS was severe, as they lost in eleven districts and fell below 30% of the votes cast, a first since the election of 1991. This heavy defeat led José Sócrates to resign as General Secretary of the party on election night. However, it was not the Socialists' worst result, which dated back to 1987 when they polled 30 points behind the Social Democrats. The Socialists were also beaten in José Sócrates district, Castelo Branco, that he dominated since 1995. For the left-wing parties, the result was mixed. On one hand, the Left Bloc faced a huge setback, losing half of its MPs and regaining its 2005 numbers, where they obtained however, one more percentage point in a context of greater participation. As a whole, the Portuguese left-wing parties trails by ten points in support to the right-wing parties, the biggest lead since the absolute majority of the Social Democrat Aníbal Cavaco Silva in the 1990s. Voter turnout was the lowest in Portuguese election history to date, with just 58% of the electorate casting their ballot on election day. == Background == The previous parliamentary elections were held in September 2009, and, as such, technically no elections were due until September or October 2013. However, the 2009 elections resulted in a hung parliament, as the Socialist Party (PS) continued to be the most voted force but loosed the majority it previously had in the chamber. A minority government supported by the PS and headed by José Sócrates was formed, relying on negotiations with the opposition parties (namely the major opposition party PSD) to approve the most important and/or controversial bills, such as the State Budgets for 2010 and 2011. In March 2011, when the government had tried to introduce a Stability and Growth Pact without consultation with the president and the parliament, the opposition parties called for a resolution vote. The vote came over proposed spending cuts and tax hikes that had been demanded by the EU to offer a bailout over Portugal's debt levels amidst the European sovereign debt crisis. PM Jose Socrates had previously said that if the measure failed he would not be able to govern anymore.〔 All five opposition parties combined to vote down the measure. With all other parties voting against the government, the Socialist Party was unable to avoid defeat as it only had 97 MPs in the 230-seat parliament. Following the vote in parliament on the evening of 23 March, Socrates stepped down, reiterating that he could no longer govern the country:〔 "Today every opposition party rejected the measures proposed by the government to prevent that Portugal resort to external aid. The opposition removed from the government the conditions to govern. As a result I have tendered my resignation to the president." The main opposition party, the Social Democratic Party (PSD), tipped the scales against the government by voting against the package, despite having abstained when voting previous austerity measures, thus allowing them to pass. Following the vote, European markets read the move as making a possible 50–70 billion euro〔Neuger, James; Lima, Joao; "(Portugal Is Said to Require as Much as $99 Billion in Any European Bailout )", ''Bloomberg'', 25 March 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2011〕 bailout "inevitable" the day before a European Union summit concerning the debt crisis. German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised Socrates for his "far-reaching" austerity bill in parliament. Portuguese two-year bond yields also increased to the most since 1999 on speculation of possible further credit downgrades.〔Lima, Joao; Reis, Anabela; "(Portugal Pushed Closer to EU Bailout After Socrates Budget Cuts Defeated )", ''Bloomberg'', 24 March 2011. Retrieved 27 March 2011.〕〔Kansas, Dave; "(Portugal’s Government Falls on Budget Dispute, Stocks Rise )", ''Wall Street Journal'', 24 March 2011, accessed24 March 2011.〕〔Campos, Rodrigo; "(GLOBAL MARKETS-World shares jump; euro up on Portugal optimism )", ''Reuters'', 24 March 2011. Accessed 24 March 2011.〕 President Anibal Cavaco Silva then met with the various political parties to either resolve the crisis, or dissolve the parliament and call an early election, which, according to the Portuguese Constitution, can be held no sooner than 55 days after the announcement.〔Tremlett, Giles; "(Portugal in crisis after prime minister resigns over austerity measures )", ''The Guardian'', 23 March 2011. Accessed 24 March 2011.〕〔Lewis, Jeffrey T.; MacDonald, Alex; Kowsmann, Patricia; "(Portuguese Leaders Scramble to Avoid Bailout )", ''WSJ'', 25 March 2011. Accessed 1 April 2011.〕 On 1 April, the president set 5 June as the date for an early election, deeming it the only way to create conditions for a new government.〔Kowsmann, Patricia; MacDonald, Alex; "(Portugal Sets Vote as Crisis Deepens )", ''WSJ'', 1 April 2011. Accessed 1 April 2011.〕 Following the call for an election, Socrates finally did make a request to the EU for a bailout on 6 April as the country's sovereign bond yield hit a record high; Portugal became the third EU state after Greece and Ireland, respectively, to request an EU bailout. Socrates said that "I tried everything but we came to a moment that not taking this decision would bring risks we can’t afford. The Social Democrats' Pedro Passos Coelho said that his party would support the aid request; the International Monetary Fund also added that it was ready to support assistance that Portugal requested. Socrates said in a nationwide television address that his caretaker government had formally requested a bailout as it was "inevitable" and that "I tried everything, but in conscience we have reached a moment when not taking this decision would imply risks that the country should not take." His Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos also said that Portugal would need the European Union support to avoid defaulting on its debt. In response, the European Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs Olli Rehn said the action was "a responsible move" and that the specific amount of aid money would soon be determined. European Union officials suggested that they hoped a deal would be finalised by the middle of May with an expected bailout of around 80 billion euros. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Portuguese legislative election, 2011」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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