Lisbon, Mar 11 (EFE) – Portugal’s parliament on Tuesday rejected the vote of confidence presented by the center-right government of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, leaving the door open to possible early elections.
The unicameral assembly rejected the motion with the votes of the Socialist Party (PS), the far-right Chega, the Portuguese Communist Party (P), the Bloco de Esquerda, the animal rights party PAN, and the environmentalists of Livre.
The government tried to salvage the vote of confidence by offering the Socialist Party (PS) a deal: a 15-day parliamentary commission of inquiry to investigate the prime minister’s ties to a family business in exchange for the PS’s to continue the legislature.
The Socialists rejected it, saying it was not a “serious” proposal but rather “a lack of respect for Parliament and the Portuguese people” because “15 days is not enough”.
At the height of the session, the vote was postponed for an hour so that the government could try to convince the main opposition party not to withdraw its confidence.
“It is with some disappointment and sadness that we can conclude that the PS is bent on plunging the country into a political crisis, and we will all be forced to go to the polls,” said Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pedro Duarte before returning to the chamber.
Next steps
President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has summoned the political parties and the Council of State.
On Wednesday, the president will meet in separate appointments with representatives of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), the Socialist Party (PS), the far-right Chega, the Liberal Initiative (IL), the Bloco de Esquerda, the Portuguese Communist Party (P), the ecologist Livre, the Christian Democratic Party (CDS-PP) and the Green Party (PAN).
On Thursday, he will meet with the Council of State, an advisory body to the Presidency, at the Palácio de Belém.
After the fall of the government, it is now up to the president to decide whether to call early elections and a vote could be held in May.
Government crisis
The government requested a vote of confidence in the wake of the political crisis triggered by the publication in the media in mid-February of the existence of a consulting firm, Spinumviva, which the prime minister founded when he was not in government and then transferred to his wife and children.
Last week, after two weeks of controversy, the company ed into the sole hands of Montenegro’s two sons.
The press subsequently revealed that Spinumviva had contracts with private companies that the opposition says benefited the prime minister.
The country’s prosecutor’s office has opened an investigation into the prime minister’s situation following an anonymous complaint.
In an interview on Monday, Montenegro expressed his intention to run as a candidate for the conservative Social Democratic Party (PSD) in the event of early elections, even if he is declared a formal suspect by the prosecutor’s office. EFE
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