Prime Minister at the pillory
Portugal threatens new election – the question of trust announced
A political crisis that has been ongoing for weeks is heading in Portugal. A company of the Prime Minister Luís Montenegro family could lead to the fall of the conservative government.
Portugal threatens an early parliamentary election – it would be the third within a good three years. Conservative Prime Minister Luís Montenegro announced in the parliament in Lisbon that he would ask the question of trust. The opposition accuses him of a conflict of interest from a company in his family. The vote will presumably take place next Wednesday. A Montenegros defeat would lead to the fall of its minority government. This scenario is considered likely.
Because the two largest opposition factions, the Socialist Party (PS) and the right -wing populists from Chega, who together held more than half of the seats in the “Assembleia da República”, had already announced that they did not want to pronounce the 52 -year -old head of government.
State head Rebelo de Sousa says Estonia visit
In a first reaction, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa canceled a visit to Estonia planned for next Wednesday. In the event of a fall of the government, the head of state must decide after consultations with party leaders whether he commissioned another politician to form a new government or call out elections. A possible choice would take place on May 11th or May 18, Rebelo said in front of journalists in the evening.
The Montenegro, which had only been ruling for just under a year after the election of March 2024, survived two distrust on February 21 and on Wednesday evening. Nevertheless, he said he was fed up with the attacks and would therefore ask the question of trust. An early choice is a “necessary evil”.
Experts: Montenegro wants to prevent Commission
On the question of why Montenegro does not simply pass to the agenda after two excessive distrust, analysts agreed that he would probably want to prevent a possible parliamentary commission to investigate the activities of the family business.
The crisis triggered is a consulting and real estate company owned by Montenegro’s family, which according to the opposition benefited from the position of the prime minister to sign contracts with private companies.
dpa
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
