LISBON, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- Portugal's governing center-left Socialist Party (PS) emerged as the major winner in Portuguese local elections on Sunday, in what was a dreadful night for the main opposition center-right Social Democratic Party (PSD).
When the final results were declared on Monday, almost 24-hours after polling stations closed on Sunday evening, the PS had won control of 159 out of 308 town halls, significantly up on its tally of 150 won in the last local elections held in 2013.
The PSD, took 79 town halls outright, down from 85 in 2013.
Prime Minister Antonio Costa described his party's results as the "biggest electoral victory in its history."
Pedro Passos Coelho, meanwhile, leader of the PSD, was forced to admit that for his party it was "one of the worst results ever."
The local elections were seen by some as a chance to endorse the central government and its coalition. In the 2015 general election, the PSD won most seats but the PS was better placed to form a minority government, pacting with the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Left Block (BE) for parliamentary support.
This so-called "contraption" coalition has proved a relative success, more conciliatory and given to compromise than many people expected.
