Portugal faces fresh elections after government collapses over ethics scandal

Digest opened free editor

Rola Khaleda, FT editor, chooses her favorite stories in this weekly newsletter.

The right -wing government in Portugal collapsed late on Tuesday, when Prime Minister Luis Montenegro lost a vote on the confidence resulting from a scandal on his family work.

His defeat will lead to the third Portuguese elections in less than four years, as the country faces pressure to enhance defensive spending and is caught through the high anti -immigrant feelings that active the extreme right.

The black mountain, who led the government of a fragile minority for 11 months, was immersed in a storm due to its alleged failure to strip its share in legal consultations.

His government fell after the opposition socialists, the other left -wing and the extremist Chiga party voted against the Prime Minister in a proposal to confidence in Parliament, which he himself called last week.

“We have tried everything,” said Montenegro. “Although the country does not understand the reason we go to the elections [in May] In the midst of a very difficult international context, I think it is better to have a clear solution in the next two months instead of a year of constant instability. “

The epic strengthened the general perceptions of corruption on a large scale in Portuguese policy, as the former Prime Minister faced charges of graft.

Montenegro is planning to stand in the new elections and insists that he has not made any mistake.

The ousted Prime Minister, the head of the Democratic Alliance, established a company called Spinomeva in 2021 when he was out of politics. But he was placed in his defense by revealing that he transferred her ownership to his wife and children in 2022 – a step that critics said was not valid because, under Portuguese law, he and his wife chose to be a common owner of all the assets acquired after providing them.

Socialist opposition leader Pedro Nuno Santos accused the Black Montenegro of “receiving payments from companies” while the Prime Minister because Spencenfa agents continued to pay consultations.

When the Socialists threatened to hold a parliamentary investigation in the case last week, Montenegro said, “The country needs a political clarification” and announced that it would provide his government to vote for confidence.

However, the Prime Minister ended several hours after confusion, which seemed to have second ideas about a vote of confidence and tried to avoid this by providing limited time parliamentary investigation.

“The Black Montenek used the debate to the victim of itself and put the entire responsibility on the Socialists. The socialists’ refusal to accept the last minute deal will have some electoral risks. But Monnegra’s chances also depend on any other news on the side of the prime minister regarding his income sources,” said Marina Costa Loubu, director of the Institute of Social Sciences at Lisbon.

Santos, the socialist leader, said: “What happened today in Parliament was a stigma. Everything was about games and maneuvering.”

Paula Espritto Santo, a professor of political science at Lisbon University, said Montenegro is dealing with things badly by not selling or closing consultations when he became the party leader in 2022.

In recent weeks, she said: “He had the option to try to clarify everything, but he did not and has gone on the ice. It was not before the events. He interacted with the events.”

Last week, the wife of Monnegro transferred her shares in the company to the children of adult couple.

The last poll showed on Tuesday the Socialist Party jumped before late last week. The Socialists had 30.8 per cent of voting against M. of 25.8 percent, according to AXIMAGE by Diário de Noticias.

A new government will face immediate pressure to enhance defensive spending, as US President Donald Trump does not push against NATO members their fair share. Portugal spent about 1.6 percent of GDP on the defense last year, which is less than the NATO goal, which is 2 percent of to be raised. Trump said he wanted to raise the target to 5 percent.

The struggle of the declaration in order to achieve the parliamentary majority was largely due to the emergence of Zeja, a right -wing party away from the dissatisfaction of migration and corruption.

Montenegro excluded work with Chiga while he was in office and his lack of the majority means that he is unable to implement major reforms. Some tax cuts have approved the support of the Socialists and the adoption of the 2025 budget because the Socialists abstained.

Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Costa now resigned in 2023 due to the pressure scandal that general prosecutors are still searching for, although he was not accused of misconduct. José Sócrates, Prime Minister from 2005-2011, is waiting for trial for money laundering and forgery of documents. Both men deny that violations are committed.

This story was modified to clarify that Montenegro and his wife chose to own their assets jointly.