The two fringe parties on the left of the Portuguese parliament, the Communist Party and the far-left party Bloco de Esquerda, submitted a parliamentary motion calling for the renegotiation of the national debt on Friday.

Jointly proposed by Communist MP Honório Novo and the Block’s João Semedo, the motion called for renegotiation due to the “generalised recognition” of “the failure of austerity after eighteen months of implementation.”

Declaring renegotiation would be a first step, Novo said this was about ensuring Portugal could pay “its legitimate debt” as “with the troika, the country soon won’t be able to pay any debt.”

In turn, Semedo criticised the accelerated nature of debt repayments and called for the renegotiation “of the amounts, rates and deadlines for payment in the name of the national economy and improving Portuguese standards of living.”

The motion was deemed populist by the ruling coalition saying the parties wanted Portugal to become ‘the next Greece.’

In final voting, the motion was rejected by the ruling Social Democratic and Popular parties joined by the main opposition Socialist Party.

However, six Socialist members of parliament abstained and the two sponsoring parties also picked up the support of the Green Party.

Both the Communist Party and the Left Bloc are publicly sponsoring the trade union convened anti-austerity protests due in Lisbon this Saturday.