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 lost 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. On social issues,
same-sex marriages was legalized by Parliament in June 2010. As it was the case in his first term, Sócrates name was involved in a new corruption investigation,
Face Oculta, and although he was cleared of any wrongdoing, authorities continued to investigate the then Prime Minister, which ended in the case that would lead to his arrest in 2014.
Fall of the government 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
José Sócrates had previously said that if the measure failed he would not be able to govern anymore. Following the vote, European markets read the move as making a possible 50–70 billion
euro 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. President
Aníbal 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. 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. 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.
Leadership changes and challenges Social Democratic Party The then PSD leader
Manuela Ferreira Leite declined to run for another term, and a new election to elect a new party leader was called for 26 March 2010.
Pedro Passos Coelho, second place holder in 2008, won the elections by a landslide. The results were the following:
Socialist Party Then party leader, and Prime Minister,
José Sócrates ran for another term as leader, and faced a challenge from three party members:
Jacinto Serrão,
Fonseca Ferreira and
António Brotas. The ballot was held on 25 and 26 March 2011, just two days after Sócrates announced his resignation following a negative vote on his policy measures in Parliament. Sócrates was re-elected with 93% of the votes, while the other candidates all polled bellow 4%.
Electoral system The
Assembly of the Republic has 230 members elected to four-year terms. Governments do not require absolute majority support of the Assembly to hold office, as even if the number of opposers of government is larger than that of the supporters, the number of opposers still needs to be equal or greater than 116 (absolute majority) for both the Government's Programme to be rejected or for a
motion of no confidence to be approved. The number of seats assigned to each district depends on the
district magnitude. The use of the
d'Hondt method makes for a higher effective threshold than certain other allocation methods such as the
Hare quota or
Sainte-Laguë method, which are more generous to small parties. For these elections, and compared with the 2009 elections, the MPs distributed by districts were the following: ==Parties==