Spending cuts still vital

The conservative Pedro Passos Coelho and his PSD party won 39 percent of the vote and will replace Portugal's socialist Prime Minister José Sócrates. But all that will really change is who implements the austerity measures, writes the daily Jornal de Notícias: "So now it's the PSD and the [right-wing conservative] CDS, instead of the PS, who will act as governor for the IMF, the EU and the ECB and implement the 'market's' plans for the protectorate Portugal. ... If our electoral system didn't pretend the 40 percent of Portuguese [who did not vote] didn't exist, more than 90 seats in the next Parliament would remain empty. And the parties would have the number of representatives that truly represents their popularity among voters, namely just over half. In the language of the 'markets' that corresponds to the 'junk' rating."

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