Despite that, he will vote Sunday to re-elect the country's center-right coalition government which imposed the tough measures. Pay and pension cuts, steep tax increases, and deep cuts in public services were introduced after Portugal's 78 billion euro ($87 billion) bailout in 2011. Europe needn't fear the rise of another radical party like Syriza in Greece, Spain's Podemos or Italy's Northern League, as Portugal's moderate, mainstream parties are poised to continue their dominance. The Portuguese took a sober look at their country after the years of lavish spending and concluded austerity was inevitable, according to Joao Cesar das Neves, an economics professor at Lisbon's Catholic University. The Socialists are also losing votes to rival and more radical parties on the left, such as the Communist Party and the Left Bloc, which could collect 10 percent and 5 percent of the vote respectively. On top of that, Socialist leader Antonio Costa's image is tarnished by his closeness to former party leader and prime minister Jose Socrates, who was in power before the bailout and has spent 10 months in prison while police investigate him for suspected corruption, money-laundering and tax fraud.
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