MADRID: Portuguese voters are called to the polls on Sunday in early parliamentary elections in which the ruling Socialists face defeat but no clear winner is expected, reported German news agency (dpa).

Almost all opinion polls ahead of the voting forecast a narrow victory for the centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) coalition over the Socialist Party (PS).

But neither of the two are expected to achieve the absolute majority that the Socialists won at the beginning of 2022.

The two leading candidates, Pedro Nuno Santos of the Socialists and Luis Montenegro of the Democratic Alliance, will likely have to rely on forging agreements with smaller parties to build a government.

The post-election situation could be more difficult because the far-right party Chega (Enough) is expected to make significant gains in the polls and could improve from just over seven per cent to between 15 and 20 per cent of votes.

The early election was called after former Socialist prime minister António Costa resigned due to corruption investigations against him and other members of the government. To date, Costa has not been found guilty of wrongdoing.

Some 10.8 million people are registered to vote, including a sizeable number of Portuguese who live abroad. Citizens will elect the 230 members of the Portuguese Parliament. – Bernama-DPA