Portugal set to hold early election in May after minority government collapses

Portugal will hold an early general election on May 18, the country's president announced Thursday, two days after a minority government lost a confidence vote in parliament and stood down.

President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has no executive power but can dissolve parliament and call elections, described the government's collapse as a shock that was neither "expected nor wanted."

In a televised address to the nation, he urged voters to participate actively in the European Union country’s third general election in three years, saying the continent faces stiff challenges to its security and economy that require political stability.

The centre-right government’s fall on Tuesday amid questions about the prime minister's conduct brought the worst bout of political instability since Portugal adopted a democratic system more than 50 years ago in the wake of the 1974 Carnation Revolution, which ended a four-decade dictatorship.

Portugal, which has a population of around 10.6 million people, has had a series of minority governments in recent years as the traditional rivals for power, the centre-right Social Democratic Party and the centre-left Socialists, lost votes to growing smaller parties.

The minority governments have been unable to build compromises that might ensure an administration completes its constitutional four-year term without opposition parties teaming up to block its policy proposals and bring it down.

The ballot deepens political uncertainty just as Portugal is in the process of investing more than €22 billion in EU development funds.

Voter discontent with a return to the polls could bring dividends for the right-wing populist party Chega (Enough), which has fed off frustration with the two mainstream parties.

Portu