EXPLAINER: Can Portugal election clear political roadblock?

By BARRY HATTON
Associated Press

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portuguese voters go to the polls Sunday, two years earlier than scheduled. The snap election came after a political crisis over a blocked spending bill brought down the country’s minority Socialist government. The Socialist Party has been in power since 2015, with Portugal one of only a half-dozen European countries having a left-of-center government. It faces a strong challenge from the center-right Social Democratic Party, its traditional rival for power. Some 10.8 million voters are eligible to choose 230 lawmakers in the Republican Assembly, Portugal’s parliament, where political parties then decide who forms a government.