Portugal polls: Socrates quits as Socialist leader after defeat

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Portugal polls: Socrates quits as Socialist leader after defeat

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Portugal's centre-right Social Democrats score a convincing win over the Socialists in election.

06 June,2011 02:15 pm

Portugals caretaker Prime Minister Jose Socrates took the blame for his partys defeat in Portugals general elections and quit as Socialist Party leader.According to the unofficial results, the Social Democratic Party took the lead in polls by getting 39 percent of votes.The new Prime Minister-elect Pedro Passos Coelho is facing a tough job of rescuing the country from economic chaos.Coelho said in his first address after being elected, I hope that the new step we are beginning now could be the first step to a new hope for Portugal, to have a new credibility outside Portugal, and to restore confidence in the markets in Portugal.Portugal is facing its highest unemployment level in three decades.Its 78 billion euro bailout from the European Union also means tough times ahead.A centre-right coalition is expected to achieve a speedy enactment of measures, including sweeping tax rises and deep spending cuts to slash the nations deficit and debt.