Portugal's tense post-election period: no clear winner and a surge of populist parties

LISSABON, Portugal - Portugal's future depends on the outcome of Sunday's election, where two moderate parties are closely vying for victory and determining the winner will take weeks because of the unprecedented rise of the third-place populist party.

The centrist Democratic Alliance, led by the Social Democratic Party, won 79 seats in the Portuguese Parliament out of a possible 230 after all votes cast in Portugal were counted. The center-left Socialist Party, in power for the past eight years, won 77 seats.

The decisive votes will be counted after the overseas votes are tallied, and this could take more than two weeks.

Update date: 07.10.2024, 17:42Local time.