Portugal’s President Cavaco Silva has broken his silence since the results of last Sunday’s election to appeal for dialogue between the “various political forces”.
The bottom line of what he means is dialogue between the centre-right coalition and the PS Socialists.
As national media explain, Cavaco is excluding the far left in his appeal, which between them clinched over 18% of the votes on Sunday, translating into 36 seats in parliament. But what he has stressed is that the country needs “political stability and governability”.
Talking on national television last night after meeting with Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, Cavaco said that Portugal needs “a solid, stable government. This is the time for compromise”.
As the PM is now locked in talks with PS counterpart António Costa – who has always stressed his party is not interested in supporting political minorities – ratings agencies Fitch and Moody’s have warned of the growing risks of a hung parliament, while the IMF has reiterated doubts that Portugal can deliver its deficit target of below 3% this year.
For a full report on the extent of smoke and mirrors that have resulted in today’s confusion, see our paper edition out tomorrow.
