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Portuguese leftist parties reach agreement with Socialists on forming alternative gov't

Xinhua, November 7, 2015 Adjust font size:

The Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) announced it has reached an agreement with the main opposition Socialist Party (PS) on Friday on forming an alternative government.

The PCP called it a "lasting solution" to form a government with PS.

"The conditions are in place to put an end to the government of PSD/CDS-PP, ensuring a government with a PS initiative," the PCP said in a statement.

The PCP also reassured its intentions of submitting a motion to reject the current government, which will be voted on Tuesday in parliament.

This comes after a similar agreement between the leftist Left Bloc and the Socialists was announced on Thursday at its website. Details of the agreement were not disclosed.

The coalition led by Portuguese Social Democratic Party (PSD) leader and Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho and CDS-PP leader Paulo Portas won most votes in the Oct. 4 election and gained 107 seats in the 230-seat parliament, but lost an outright majority.

The PS, the Left Bloc and the PCP with its partner the Green Party together have 122 seats in the parliament, more than half of the seats needed to reject the government program.

If the program was rejected in the Parliament on Tuesday after a two-day debate, the PSD-CD-PP coalition government which took office only last Friday will fall.

Passos Coelho told reporters on Friday that he was willing to shoulder his responsibility both in government or in the opposition.

"I will be where I am needed: in the government, which is the natural place you would expect of who won the elections or in the opposition, but I will not turn my back on my responsibility," he said. Endit