The election was called by the President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa as an early election. It came in the context of several resignations in the socialist majority government, led by António Costa as prime minister, in March 2022. Costa’s indictment as a suspect in a corruption case involving the lithium and hydrogen business aggravated the situation and precipitated the government’s downfall. Following such accusation, the prime minister presented his resignation and announced that he would not run for reelection. Despite the Socialist Party’s proposal to form a new government led by another politician, the president opted for calling a snap election.
Views on political institutions and forecast of the election
With the Portuguese facing a delicate political and social scenario, it is the president that emerges as the most trusted institution, with the parliament only attaining 36 percent of trust. As of December 2023, half of the population anticipated instability in the governmental situation after the general election.Moreover, even though the majority of citizens thought that it would be better if the winning party did not have absolute majority, opinions differed when it came to choosing between a right-wing or left-wing coalition. The undecided atmosphere that surrounded the Portuguese may be explained partially by their mistrust in the political parties’ ability to address the country’s problems. More than half of the population believed, for instance, that no party gave a good response to corruption, and only 17 percent of people trusted political parties in general.
