Insight - With no one at helm, Portugal faces instability and strife

Sonia Silva, 41, poses at her fish stall in Almada's market, near Lisbon, Portugal November 18, 2015. REUTERS/Rafael Marchante

ALMADA, Portugal (Reuters) - In the Portuguese town of Almada, Communist activists are handing out leaflets that bear the hammer-and-sickle logo and triumphantly proclaim: "Government destroyed, victory for the workers' struggle".

    It seems like a throwback to a bygone era. But a leftist alliance could soon be in charge of Western Europe's poorest country - a prospect that alarms the business and conservative political elite just as it seemed Portugal had weathered economic crisis.