RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – In addition to the German elections, Portugal also went to the polls in Europe this weekend for municipal elections, with victory for the Socialists who already run the national government under Prime Minister António Costa.
But the triumph was overshadowed by the surprising defeat in Lisbon, which had been run by the party for 14 years.
According to near-complete results released on Monday (27), the Socialists won the local elections for the third time in a row, with 34.4% of the vote and at least 147 town halls.
The center-right opposition won in 108 towns, with 30.8% of the vote.
The socialists came first in the local elections of 2013 and 2017. This time, the expectation was already for a closer victory than four years ago, when they had the best result in their history.