President to Address Portuguese, Start Post-Election Government

Lisbon: Portugal's President Anibal Cavaco Silva, who must name the new prime minister after Sunday's election, will address the nation late on Tuesday following a meeting with the leader of the ruling coalition that won the most votes.

A presidency spokesman said Cavaco will speak after 8 p.m. (8 p.m. BT) about forming the new government in a televised address. He meets Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho two hours earlier.

Passos Coelho's centre-right alliance beat other parties in the ballot, but lost its parliament majority enjoyed in the past four years when Passos Coelho steered the country through a debt crisis implementing painful austerity measures.

Analysts expect the president to try to convince the ruling alliance, now in a caretaker role, and the second-placed Socialists, to form a centrist coalition.

He has sought that in the past without success, and the Socialists are expected to refuse, making a minority centre-right government the most likely option.

Reforms needed to help the indebted country's meagre growth after a steep recession in 2011-13 would be more difficult to pass for a minority government, which could face political turmoil next year, many analysts say.

Before naming the prime minister, Cavaco must talk to all political leaders whose parties have a parliament representation, with discussions likely to take most of next week.