Portugal
set for snap general election as PM faces confidence vote
MPs prepare
to debate a motion of confidence that looks likely to topple centre-right
government
Sam Jones in
Madrid and agencies
Tue 11 Mar
2025 05.00 GMT
Portugal is
bracing for its third snap general election in as many years as MPs prepare to
debate a motion of confidence that looks set to topple the centre-right
government and trigger a return to the polls in May.
Luís
Montenegro, the prime minister, who heads the Democratic Alliance (AD) platform
that has governed Portugal since its narrow victory in last year’s election,
called the vote of confidence, which is due to take place on Tuesday, in
response to growing questions over his family’s business activities.
Montenegro
has denied any wrongdoing or ethical breaches and called the vote last week
saying he wanted to “to end the atmosphere of permanent insinuations and
intrigues”. It is all but certain to trigger a new general election as both the
centre-left Socialist party (PS) and the far-right Chega party have said they
will vote against the government.
Between
them, the PS and Chega have 128 seats in Portugal’s 230 seat parliament, while
the AD has 80.
If, as
expected, Montenegro loses the vote, Portugal’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de
Sousa, is likely to dissolve parliament, prompting a new election whose
earliest dates would be 11 or 18 May.
At the
centre of the allegations is Spinumviva, a data protection consultancy that
Montenegro founded in 2021 but the ownership of which he transferred to his
wife and sons the following year.
The
opposition claims that Spinumviva’s contracts with private companies –
including a casino and hotel business – have benefited Montenegro. It recently
emerged that the firm is receiving monthly payments from a company that has a
major gambling concession granted by the government.
While there
is no active investigation under way into Spinumviva, prosecutors have said
they are analysing “an anonymous complaint” against Montenegro linked to its
dealings.
Portugal’s
last general election, held a year ago, was triggered by the resignation in
November 2023 of the socialist prime minister, António Costa, after an
investigation was launched into alleged illegalities in his administration’s
handling of large green investment projects.
Costa – who
had been in office since 2015 and who won a surprise absolute majority in the
2022 general election – had not been accused of any crime. He said that while
his conscience was clear, he felt he had no choice but to step down because the
“duties of prime minister are not compatible with any suspicion of my
integrity”.
The March
2024 election proved a close-run affair. The AD won 80 seats to the PS’s 78,
while Chega – which is led by the former TV football pundit André Ventura –
enjoyed a surge in support and increased its seat count from 12 to 50.
Surveys
suggest a May election could produce a similar result. The AD is polling at
about 30%, slightly ahead of the PS, with Chega third on 18%.
Reuters and
the Associated Press contributed to this report.
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