Latest barometer for elections no-one wants suggests uninspiring results
Portuguese voters believe none of the political parties fighting elections coming on May 18 will clinch an absolute majority.
This is one of the conclusions of the latest ‘barometer’, conducted by Intercampus for Correio da Manhã, CMTV and Negócios online.
As Correio da Manhã explains, the “crushing majority of people questioned” see these elections that ‘came out of the blue’, and many believe were wholly unnecessary, are unlikely to change the current picture: Portugal will have a minority government, dependant on parliament for pushing through policies – ergo, dialogue between parties, not the bitter hostility that marked the last legislature, will have to prevail.
The only real question is whether PSD/CDS-PP will return by a whisker, or PS Socialists (who can at least ‘depend’ on dialogue with the other parties of the left if they do win through).
According to the last Intercampus poll, PS Socialists are slightly ahead with regard to voting inventions – but this ‘barometer’ shows that 46.5% of people questioned prefer the prospect of Luís Montenegro remaining prime minister, while only 37.9% think Pedro Nuno Santos would be better in the role.
The issue of personalities will be a deciding factor in these elections, with Pedro Nuno Santos’ constant criticisms of Luís Montenegro’s integrity, and apparently shady business history, possibly coming back to bite him in the proverbial.
Mr Montenegro remains hostage to criticisms even though the public prosecutor’s office has announced that it has archived the case questioning the veracity of his declarations of earnings for 2022 and 2023 (the PM returned actively to politics, leading the PSD party, in 2022), having found no reasons for any further action being required. This case is separate from the investigation opened by the Attorney General’s Office into the PM’s former family business, SPINUMVIVA: ND
Source material: Correio da Manhã/ Lusa
