Socialist Costa to head Portuguese govt

Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva on Monday met the leader of the main opposition Socialists, Antonio Costa, whose hopes of leading a new Socialist government backed by a left-wing majority in parliament hinge on the head of state.

“After hearing political parties with parliamentary representation, the president has made a decision to nominate Antonio Costa for prime minister”, the president said in a statement.

Costa has pledged to respect Portugal’s promises but his two partners, the far left Communists and Left Bloc, have not. That government had over the previous four years introduced spending cuts and economic reforms following Portugal’s 78 billion-euro ($83 billion) bailout in 2011.

Costa’s unprecedented leftwing alliance of the Socialist Party, Communists, Greens and Left Bloc toppled Portugal’s 11-day-old conservative minority government in a dramatic parliamentary vote this month. Some fear Portugal will abandon the fiscal discipline demanded of countries sharing the euro currency, but Costa insists he will abide by worldwide agreements, including government spending limits. As the Secretary General of the Communist Party, Jeronimo de Sousa, repeated numerous times, the left’s goal was to oust the Passos Coelho government and fight for the reversal of its austerity measures.

Austerity seemed to be reaping its first positive results in 2015, with the Portuguese economy growing 1.5 percent in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year.

Some analysts say the president, who is also from the center-right, could demand additional guarantees from Costa that his government and the leftist lawmakers supporting it would stick to Portugal’s European commitments on cutting the budget deficit.

The leftist alliance intends to roll back tax cuts, as well as cuts in pay, pensions and public services. Some 400,000 Portuguese left to seek work overseas.

Nicknamed “Babush” or “kid” in Konkani, the native language of Goa, Costa confesses to having a temper, but says he lets out his anger.

Now the question remains whether he and his alliance will be up to the huge challenges facing them and effectively end weeks of political turmoil.