Reuters/Lisbon

Portugal swore in its second-term Socialist government yesterday and Prime Minister Jose Socrates vowed to fight recession and unemployment and to carry on with social security reforms.

Socrates said the new administration, which will rule in a parliamentary minority after four years of absolute majority, will also work hard to preserve political stability through dialogue with other parties.

The centre-left Socialists won a September 27 general election, but with 97 seats in the 230-seat parliament they no longer enjoy an absolute majority, which had allowed them to pass and implement bold reforms in the past.

Still, Socrates remained adamant about his reform drive.

“The vote of the Portuguese was a vote of confidence in a reformist government and a strategy for the country’s modernisation,” he said during the swearing-in ceremony. “The reforms will be aimed at the sustainability of the social state and defending public interests.”

In the first four years of Socrates’s administration, it introduced reforms in taxes, education, health, public service and social security, drawing stiff opposition in some areas.

Portugal’s budget deficit returned to below the euro-zone limit of 3% of GDP in 2007 and 2008 from 2005’s 6.1% gap. But the global economic crisis took its toll and the budget gap is likely to exceed 5% again this year, while the unemployment is at the highest level in 3 decades.

“Our first priority is combating the crisis. The recovery of our economy will be the central point of this government,” Socrates said, promising to promote private and public investment to create jobs.

Socrates had promised earlier to kickstart large public-private infrastructure projects such as high-speed train links to Spain and a new airport in Lisbon to promote growth and create jobs.

In terms of modernisation, he said Portugal was betting on renewable energy to reduce its dependence on oil and advance technologically. In education, compulsory 12-year schooling is among the government’s goals.