Editing Politics of Portugal (section)

==Political background==
The national and regional governments are dominated by two political parties, the centre-left [[Socialist Party (Portugal)|Socialist Party]] (PS), a [[Social democracy|social-democratic]] party, and the centre-right, [[Liberal conservatism|liberal-conservative]] [[Social Democratic Party (Portugal)|Social Democratic Party]] (PSD), which have similar basic policies in some respects: both are [[pro-European]], support [[NATO]] membership, [[welfare state]] and [[market economy]]. Other parties with seats in the parliament are [[Chega (political party)|Chega]], the [[Portuguese Communist Party]], the [[Left Bloc (Portugal)|Left Bloc]], the [[Ecologist Party "The Greens"]], [[LIVRE]], and [[People-Animals-Nature]]. The Communists and the Greens are in coalition as the [[Unitary Democratic Coalition]].

In the [[2011 Portuguese legislative election|Portuguese legislative election of 2011]], the PSD won enough seats to form a majority government with the [[Christian democracy|Christian democratic]] [[CDS – People's Party|People's Party]] (CDS-PP). The coalition, led by Prime Minister [[Pedro Passos Coelho]], was supported by a majority in the Parliament, with 132 of the 230 MPs. The major opposition party was the Socialist Party (the party of the former prime minister [[José Sócrates]], in office 2005–2011) with 74 MPs. Also represented were the Portuguese Communist Party (14 MPs), "The Greens" (2 MPs) and the Left Bloc (8 MPs), all to the left of the governing coalition.

In the [[2015 Portuguese legislative election|2015 elections]], which the PSD and  CDS-PP contested as a coalition, [[Portugal Ahead]], the government lost its absolute majority. The [[left-wing]] parties, the [[Socialist Party (Portugal)|Socialist Party]], [[Portuguese Communist Party]], [[Ecologist Party "The Greens"]], and Left Bloc, argued that as they were willing to form a coalition which would have a majority in the assembly, they ought to be invited to form the government, while [[Portugal Ahead]], as the largest grouping, argued that they should be invited to form the government. After three weeks of uncertainty, the President designated Passos Coelho as prime minister, which was followed by the formation of a minority government.  However, the plan was rejected by the Parliament. It was the shortest-lived Portuguese national government since the [[Carnation Revolution]]. Since then, the [[left-wing]] parties, led by the [[Socialist Party (Portugal)|Socialist Party]] (PS), have formed the government. On 26 November 2015, there was established a PS minority government led by Prime Minister [[António Costa]].

In the Portuguese legislative [[2019 Portuguese legislative election|of 2019]], the centre-left PS of incumbent Prime Minister Costa obtained the largest share of the vote, and the most seats. On 26 October 2019, there was established a new PS minority government led by Prime Minister António Costa. In the snap [[2022 Portuguese legislative election|2022 election]] the ruling PS won an outright majority. Following the [[Operation Influencer]] police searches, in November 2023, António Costa resigned and snap elections were called for [[2024 Portuguese legislative election|10 March 2024]], which were won by the [[Democratic Alliance (Portugal, 2024)|Democratic Alliance]].