Pedro Passos Coelho’s grouping won the most votes in the legislative election on October 4th, but fell short of a parliamentary majority.
A minority centre-right government would need support, or at least abstention, from the Socialists to pass laws in parliament. But talks between the groupings have broken down.
There has been a period of intense but inconclusive political horse-trading since the election.
It now falls to President Anibal Cavaco Silva to nominate a Prime Minister.
The possibility of a change of administration or even a political vacuum is conjuring up uncertainty in Portugal as it recovers from its debt crisis.
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