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World

Portugal braces for fall of government amid austerity backlash as leftist alliance eyes power

Associated Press
Published | Updated
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    Portuguese Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho answers a lawmaker during the debate of the government's four-year policy program at the Parliament in Lisbon, Monday, Nov. 9 2015. Together the left-of-center parties have 122 seats in the 230-seat Parliament, outnumbering the government, and have vowed to reject the program in a vote expected Tuesday. Such a defeat would force the government, which took office on Oct. 30, to resign, possibly opening the door for the unprecedented leftist alliance to take over. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) (The Associated Press)

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    Catarina Martins, center, leader of the Left Bloc, is applauded during the debate of the government's four-year policy program at the Parliament in Lisbon, Monday, Nov. 9 2015. Together the left-of-center parties have 122 seats in the 230-seat Parliament, outnumbering the government, and have vowed to reject the program in a vote expected Tuesday. Such a defeat would force the government, which took office on Oct. 30, to resign, possibly opening the door for the unprecedented leftist alliance, that includes the Left Bloc, to take over. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) (The Associated Press)

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    Portuguese Communist Party leader Jeronimo de Sousa, center, gestures during the debate of the government's four-year policy program at the Parliament in Lisbon, Monday, Nov. 9 2015. Together the left-of-center parties have 122 seats in the 230-seat Parliament, outnumbering the government, and have vowed to reject the program in a vote expected Tuesday. Such a defeat would force the government, which took office on Oct. 30, to resign, possibly opening the door for the unprecedented leftist alliance, that includes the Communists, to take over. (AP Photo/Armando Franca) (The Associated Press)

LISBON, Portugal – Portugal's new government is facing what are likely to be its final hours in power as anti-austerity forces in Parliament prepare to force its resignation.

The showdown Tuesday comes less than two weeks after the center-right government was sworn in. It is outnumbered by left-of-center lawmakers in Parliament, and they vow to unseat it by rejecting its policy proposals. A rejection compels the government to stand down.

The Socialist Party has forged an alliance with the Communist Party and the radical Left Bloc to take power. They intend to reverse pay and pension cuts and increase government spending, though they haven't said where the money will come from.

After Greece, debt-heavy Portugal is the latest eurozone country to witness a backlash against austerity measures adopted amid Europe's recent financial crisis.

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