Well it wasn't hard to see this coming.
As detailed here [4] on Tuesday, Antonio Costa and the Socialists have fulfilled their promise of ousting Portuguese PM Pedro Passos Coelho's government just days after President Anibal Cavaco Silva reappointed the premier on the heels of largely inconclusive elections.
- PORTUGUESE PARLIAMENT REJECTS PM COELHO'S GOVERNMENT PROGRAM
- PORTUGAL GOVERNMENT FALLS AFTER LAWMAKERS BLOCK COELHO PLAN
For those who missed it, the Socialists moved to form a government with the Left Bloc and the Communists and when Silva decided to give them the political equivalent of a swift slap in the face by reappointing Coelho, the stage was set for a veritable mutiny.
Today's events validate Communist leader Jerónimo de Sousa's contention that Silva's decision would amount to a "manifest waste of time [5]."
Here's AP:
Anti-austerity lawmakers have forced Portugal's new center-right government to resign by rejecting its policy proposals.
The showdown comes less than two weeks after the center-right government was sworn in.
The moderate Socialist Party forged an unprecedented alliance with the Communist Party and the radical Left Bloc to get a majority in the 230-seat Parliament and vote down the proposals Tuesday.
After four years in power the government lost its parliamentary majority in an Oct. 4 general election, which saw a public backlash against austerity measures adopted following a 78 billion-euro ($84 billion) bailout in 2011.
Socialist leader Antonio Costa is expected to become prime minister in coming weeks, supported by the Communists and Left Bloc. The have promised to alleviate austerity, though critics fear a return to borrow-and-spend policies.
So get ready Brussels and Berlin, because you might be in for another anti-austerity battle only this time, the country in question "matters."
But then again, the "smartest" guy on the Street doesn't think there's anything to worry about...
[6]
We close with the following, from AFP [7]:
Finance Minister Maria Luis Albuquerque, from the centre-right coalition which won the most votes in last month's polls but lost the absolute majority it had enjoyed since 2011, warned that the rival bloc would derail Portugal's economic recovery.
"If investor confidence is shattered, the threat of bankruptcy is real," she told parliament.
