Portugal holds its 3rd general election in 3 years but the vote might not restore stability

LISBON Portugal AP Voters in Portugal returned to the polls on Sunday for a third general voting in three years as the country s increasingly fragmented political landscape defies efforts to unite behind policies on pressing national issues such as immigration housing and the cost of living Hopes that the ballot might end the worst spell of political instability in decades for the European Union country of million people could be dashed however Polls suggest the vote is poised to deliver yet another minority authorities leaving the Portuguese back where they started What the polls indicate is that there will not be major differences from the last poll results says Marina Costa Lobo head researcher at Lisbon University s Institute of Social Sciences That outcome could bring another scramble to build political alliances in Parliament she explained For the past years two parties have dominated politics in Portugal with the center-right Social Democrats and the center-left Socialist Party alternating in power They are likely to come out on top in this ballot too But citizens frustration with their record in leadership has fueled the progress of new alternatives in latest years That has denied the bigger parties enough seats in Parliament to snare a majority needed to ensure they serve a full four-year term I really don t know who to go for reported -year-old Lisbon resident Patricia Fortes I m fed up with the main parties but then I feel I don t know the other parties well enough Polls suggest a center-right alliance is favored A center-right minority ruling body headed by the Social Democrats in partnership with the smaller Popular Party lost a confidence vote in parliament in March after less than a year in power as opposition lawmakers teamed up against it That triggered an early voting process which had been due only in Polls have suggested that the partnership called Democratic Alliance again has a small lead over the Socialists but likely not enough to secure seats in the -seat National Assembly Portugal s parliament Voting began at a m GMT and ends at p m GMT when exit polls can be published Greater part official results are expected by midnight GMT The confidence vote was triggered by a political storm around expected conflicts of interest in the business dealings of Social Democrat Prime Minister Luis Montenegro s family law firm Montenegro has denied any wrongdoing and is standing for reelection Corruption scandals have dogged Portuguese politics in contemporary years That has helped fuel the rise of Chega Enough a hard-right populist party whose leader Andre Ventura says he has zero tolerance for misconduct in office But Chega which shot from to seats to come third in last year s poll has lately fallen foul of its own lawmakers alleged wrongdoing One of them is suspected of stealing suitcases from the Lisbon airport and selling the contents online and another allegedly faked the signature of a dead woman Both resigned Immigration and housing are key issues Chega owes much of its success to its demands for a tighter immigration plan that has resonated with voters Portugal has witnessed a steep rise in immigration In there were fewer than a half-million legal immigrants in the country according to establishment statistics By early this year there were more than million countless of them Brazilians and Asians working in tourism and farming Thousands more are undocumented The outgoing regime revealed two weeks before the referendum it was expelling selected foreigners living in the country without authorization Though such a step is routine the timing drew accusations it was trying to capture votes from Chega Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos who is also standing for prime minister described the move as a Trumpification of Portuguese politics referring to U S President Donald Trump s focus on immigration policies A housing emergency has also fired debate House prices and rents have been soaring for the past years due in part to an influx of white-collar foreigners who have driven up prices House prices jumped another last year the National Statistics Institute a establishment body noted Rents in and around the capital Lisbon where particular million people live last year saw the steepest rise in years climbing more than the institute explained People complain they can t afford to buy or rent a home where they come from and that they and their children have to move away to buy The obstacle is compounded by Portugal being one of Western Europe s poorest countries The average monthly salary last year was around euros before tax according to the statistics agency The government-set minimum wage this year is euros a month before tax Associated Press journalist Helena Alves in Lisbon Portugal contributed to this review Source