BarcelonaPortugal has already managed to form a government, almost twenty days after an election with close results and a week after receiving the mandate from the president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. So, the prime minister-designate, the conservative of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) Luis Montenegro, presented this Thursday the composition of his new government, which will have seventeen ministers, seven of whom are women.
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The big headlines are the following: on the one hand, he surrounds himself with trusted politicians; and, on the other hand, it excludes from the executive the extreme right formation Chega, which obtained good results in the elections. Montenegro, however, had promised not to govern with right-wing radicals. The horizon he has from now on bodes turbulent: due to his parliamentary weakness, the new executive will have to rule by decree. The Aliança Democràtica coalition, led by the PSD and winner of the elections, has only 80 of the 230 members of Parliament. Although the chamber has a right-wing majority, the fifty votes of the populist right do not guarantee support for Montenegro’s decisions.
Portugal, then, is entering a new political period, also marked by the return of conservatives to power after more than eight years of socialist government.
As for the new government, among the most prominent names there is that of former MEP and vice-president of the PSD, Paulo Rangel, who will be Minister of State and Foreign Affairs, and that of the economist and former leader of the center-right party in Parliament, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, who will lead the State and Finance portfolio. The Ministry of Economy will be headed by Pedro Reis, former president of the Agency for Investment and Foreign Trade of Portugal and coordinator within the party; while PSD Vice President Miguel Pinto Luz will be responsible for Infrastructure and Housing. On the other hand, the Defense portfolio will be in the hands of the president of the Christian Democrat CDS-PP – one of the forces that make up the Democratic Alliance –, the lawyer and until now MEP Nuno Melo.
The composition of the new conservative government, which will take office on April 2, has been a surprise saved until the last minute, since, unlike on previous occasions, there have been no leaks about who would lead the portfolios. With just 51 years of age and a lawyer by training, Montenegro, who has more than 25 years of experience in the PSD, will be the new Portuguese Prime Minister. He was born in Porto, but has lived practically all his life in Espinho, a small town on the coast of Aveiro, where he also began his political career.
These were the second early elections that Portugal has held in the last two years. The 2022 elections were decided by the victory of the socialist candidate António Costa, who captured the majority of the vote from the left and achieved a surprising absolute majority, as he presented himself as the only one who could hold back the far-right . A comfortable legislature was predicted, but in November a case of alleged corruption involving people very close to the prime minister broke out and Costa resigned, although there were no formal charges against him.
2024-03-28 22:11:51
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