In this article, the main events of political life in Portugal are discussed. It includes a report on general elections in 2022, the formation of a new Socialist absolute majority government led by Prime Minister Antonio Costa, and major parliamentary decisions and debates. The year 2022 started with early general elections, strengthening the ruling Socialist Party, which won a majority of seats in the national Parliament. However, it took some time for the new government to learn to govern in the new context.
In 2021, Portuguese politics was strongly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. In this constraining context, the Portuguese population went twice to the polls in presidential and local elections. Moreover, the Portuguese government was the holder of the presidency of the Council of the European Union. Throughout the year, the Portuguese government negotiated with the political parties to get the 2022 budget approved. However, most opposition parties rejected the budget for different reasons. Therefore, the President of the Republic dissolved Parliament and announced early elections for 30 January 2022. Although it was a difficult year, Portugal was able to implement an aggressive vaccination programme, which led to a high vaccination coverage of 80 per cent of the population.