What future after the election?

Two days before Sunday’s general election, "PSD leads by 5.4 % ahead of PS and the right heads towards an absolute majority", headlines Público, referring to the centre-right opposition party and the Socialist party of outgoing PM José Sócrates. But in this snap election - held after Sócrates' failure to obtain Parliament's approval for austerity measures - “uncertainty remains about a coalition with an absolute majority, with or without the PS", writes analyst João Labrincha. While the EU and the IMF demand austerity in exchange for a 78 billion euros bailout, "one thing is sure: the future is not going to be easy for whoever gains power. Nor for the opposition parties. What is required is originality and creativity, with accountability. And we should start by increasing transparency in public actions. Furthermore, "a national audit of the public debt is the very least that should be demanded, so that we can see whether the imposition of a State ever more socially, economically and politically ‘austeritarian’ is justified."