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Portugal's ruling coalition calls for support as general elections approach

Xinhua, August 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

Portugal's center-right ruling coalition government on Friday called on voters to support them in the general elections, as part of their election campaign as the general elections approach in October.

"Together we overcame a harsh reality because we were united and had courage," the letter, signed by Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho and head of the junior party in the center-right ruling coalition, Paulo Portas, reads.

"Thanks to everyone's great work and effort we will be able to continue ahead, meeting more economic growth and creation of jobs, focusing on policies to improve access to health and quality of education, to enlarge the fight against social inequality and create conditions to guarantee improvements in Portugal's demographics."

Passo Coelho and Paulo Portas added that four years was enough to overcome the pre-bankruptcy crisis the country faced in 2011, when the Socialists lost the elections and were forced to seek a bailout.

The center-right ruling coalition has been applying severe austerity measures in the past four years to put the economy back on track, with Portugal's economy returning to growth last year. Recent figures released by the country's National Institute of Statistics (INE) show Portugal's unemployment rate dropped to a record 11.9 percent in the second quarter, giving the government a boost of confidence before October 4 when the Portuguese general elections take place.

The Socialist Party, which is running almost neck-and-neck with the ruling coalition in recent polls, has held a strong anti-austerity stance and claims the government has manipulated the country's real situation, with public debt at almost 130 percent of GDP according to figures by Eurostat.

However, the government insists the country is on the right track despite the unpopular austerity measures imposed.

"Four years were enough to do the necessary and possible. That's why with humbleness but convicted with the results obtained and with what we are proposing, we present the Portuguese with the opportunity to consolidate this new cycle that has started," the letter adds. Endit