Socialists emerged victorious from Sunday’s elections in Portugal in another sign that right-wing populism in Europe may be losing steam.

The Socialist Party, to which Prime Minister António Costa belongs, still fell short of winning an absolute majority.

Politico reported:

The Socialists won 36.6 percent of the vote with over 99 percent of stations reporting, followed by the center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD) on 27.9 percent, its worst result since 1983. With the smaller conservative CDS-People’s Party (CDS-PP) getting just 4.2 percent, the night was a serious reversal for Portugal’s mainstream right. On the left, the old-school Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) saw its support drop to a historic low of 6.5 percent and the Left Bloc, a media-savvy, urban-based party, confirmed its position as Portugal’s third party, falling slightly to 9.7 percent.

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The Iberian nation, noted Deutsche Welle, is “one of the few European countries where right-wing populists remain insignificant.”

Voting information outlet Europe Elects broke down the figures:

Portugal, plurality of vote per electoral district. Centre-left PS (S&D) was the most voted party in 15 out of the 20 national electoral districts, an increase of 8 compared to the 2015 parliamentary election. pic.twitter.com/A2NQALQN1v — Europe Elects (@EuropeElects) October 7, 2019

Portugal, 99% of parishes counted: Confirmed Seats: 226/230 PS-S&D: 106 (+21)

PSD-EPP: 77 (-12)

BE-LEFT: 19

CDU-LEFT|G/EFA: 12 (-5)

CDS/PP-EPP: 5 (-13)

PAN-G/EFA: 4 (+3)

CH-ECR: 1 (+1)

IL-RE: 1 (+1)

LIVRE-G/EFA: 1 (+1)

unclear: 4 +/- vs. current distribution#Legislativas2019 — Europe Elects (@EuropeElects) October 6, 2019

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The results mean that Costa now “needs to negotiate a new deal with one or both of his far-left allies in the previous legislature,” as Reuters noted.

Guardian columnist Owen Jones, in a tweet, suggested that voters were likely happy with the leftward shift the Social Party made in that previous legislature:

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https://twitter.com/OwenJones84/status/1180942323305369601

Ricardo Ferreira Reis, polling center director at Lisbon’s Católica University, made a similar observation. “This result,” he told RTP television, “can be seen as a vote for a government led by the Socialist Party with parliamentary support or in coalition with other forces on the left.”

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European Council president Donald Tusk congratulated Costa on the win, saying his “electoral success comes at a challenging time for Europe and the world.”

“European unity is more needed now than ever,” Tusk continued, “and I trust that your government will continue playing a constructive role in the most relevant themes such as the climate emergency, trade conflicts, our multi-year budget, migration, the completion of the Economic and Monetary Union as well as Brexit.”