Updated

Portugal's president has invited the center-right coalition government of the past four years to return to power after it won a general election, even though it will be outnumbered in Parliament by opponents who vow to force it out within days.

The coalition won the Oct. 4 ballot with 38.4 percent of votes and will rule as a minority government, with Pedro Passos Coelho expected to continue as prime minister.

But an unprecedented alliance of left-of-center parties, led by the moderate Socialists and including the Communist Party and radical Left Bloc, has 122 seats in the 230-seat Parliament. The alliance says it will use that majority to quickly bring down the government and take power itself.

President Anibal Cavaco Silva announced his decision in an address to the nation Thursday.