Pedros Passos Coelho, leader of the PAF (PSD/CDS) coalition and António Costa, leader of the opposition (PS). Sapo Photos: all rights reserved.
Portugal is heading to the polls on October 4 with no real alternative to mainstream parties. Over the last few years, the country has been sharing with other Southern European countries many common traits such as recession, high unemployment, unbearable austerity and widespread corruption scandals, and yet we have not seen the emergence of radical and anti-establishment parties.
Portugal exited its bailout program in 2014 and the economic situation is slowly but steadily improving. Social cuts, unemployment, low productivity and a serious demographic crisis remain serious threats to its future, but the Portuguese two-party system remains stable.
