Akhir 26, 1432 H/March 31, 2011, SPA -- Portugal's president met senior politicians on Thursday to decide when to hold a snap election following the resignation of the prime minister, kicking off a campaign focussed on a debt crisis that could lead to a bailout, Reuters reported. President Anibal Cavaco Silva will make a televised statement at 1930 GMT after meeting with the advisory council of state, a presidency spokeswoman said. Cavaco Silva called the meeting with the council -- made up of senior political figures -- to decide the next steps in the crisis, which has sent Portuguese bond yields to successive new euro life time highs this week. Prime Minister Jose Socrates resigned last week after opposition parties rejected his minority Socialist government's latest austerity plan, prompting downgrades by rating agencies which said an international bailout was now more likely. All the opposition parties and the ruling Socialists have urged Cavaco Silva to call elections as soon as possible, with some politicians pushing for May 29 or June 5. According to Portugal's electoral law, elections can be held at the earliest at the end of May. The opposition rejected the idea of a coalition cabinet to avoid an election, and have also ruled out pre-election alliances, highlighting a dramatic increase in polarization and antagonism among the parties. Finance Minister Fernando Teixeira dos Santos said earlier on Thursday that the interim government did not have the powers or legitimacy to negotiate and request a bailout. The minister spoke just after the National Statistics Institute said the country's budget deficit reached 8.6 percent of gross domestic product in 2010, above a target of 7.3 percent agreed with Brussels. The news sent yields up sharply to new euro lifetime highs. Economists have focussed on two large Portuguese bond redemptions in coming months. Most of them say the country has raised enough funds this so far this year to be able to repay around 4 billion euros ($5.63 billion) in April.
