Portugal Braces for Fall of Govt Amid Austerity Backlash
LISBON, Portugal — Portugal's new government faced what were likely to be its final hours in power Tuesday as anti-austerity forces in Parliament prepared to force its resignation.
The showdown came less than two weeks after the center-right government was sworn in. It is outnumbered by left-of-center lawmakers in Parliament, and they have vowed to unseat it by rejecting its policy proposals in the chamber's first debate since an Oct. 4 general election. A rejection would compel the government to stand down, with the landmark vote expected Tuesday afternoon.
The Socialist Party has forged an unprecedented alliance with the Communist Party and the radical Left Bloc to take power once the current government is out. The leftist alliance intends to reverse the cuts in pay, pensions and public services, as well as tax increases that have brought widespread hardship, street protests and strikes in recent years.
The current political upheaval has its roots in years of low growth and borrow-and-spend policies which weakened Portugal and compelled it to ask for a 78 billion-euro ($84 billion) bailout in 2011 amid the eurozone's debt crisis. The center-right government, which has ruled for the past four years, introduced debt-reducing austerity measures demanded by creditors.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/11/10/world/europe/ap-eu-portugal-politics.html?_r=0
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