LISBON, Portugal (AP) – Die-hard communists are poised to walk the corridors of power in Portugal, and a new generation of leftist radicals is right beside them.
The Portuguese Communist Party and the radical Left Bloc say they are hitching up with the bigger, moderate Socialist Party for what will likely be a successful – and controversial – gambit next week to unseat the country’s center-right government just days after it was sworn in. The three parties then intend to take command of the country’s fortunes for the next four years in a bold power play that just a few weeks ago was unthinkable.
Communist leader Jeronimo de Sousa, a square-jawed 68-year-old who started work in a factory age 14, and the Left Bloc’s Catarina Martins, a 42-year-old actress-turned-activist, became kingmakers after a recent election gave most votes to the three anti-austerity parties.
After years on the sidelines, political forces like these have been pushed into the political foreground across Europe by voters weary of economic difficulties in the wake of the continent’s financial crisis.
The Portuguese have endured hard times since their debt-heavy country needed a 78 billion-euro ($85 billion) bailout in 2011, following years of borrow-and-spend policies. Cuts to pay, pensions and public services ensued. Steep tax rises ate further into incomes. Labor reforms snatched away longstanding entitlements.