Lisbon, Portugal — Portugal will hold an initial general election on 18 May, the President of the country announced on Thursday, two days later a minority government lost a belief vote in Parliament and stood down.
President Marcello Rebelo de Sosa, who has no executive power, but can dissolve and elect the Parliament, described the collapse of the government as a shock which was neither “expected nor desired.”
In a television address to the nation, he urged voters to actively participate in the third general election of the European Union in three years, saying that the continent faces its security and strict challenges for the economy, which requires political stability.
Amid questions about the Prime Minister’s conduct on Tuesday, the Central Rights Government’s decline brought the worst political volatility as Portugal adopted a democratic system over 50 years ago in view of the 1974 carnation revolution, which abolished the dictatorship of four decades.
Portugal, which has a population of about 10.6 million people, has had a series of minority governments in recent years as traditional rivals, center-rights social Democratic Party and minority governments in the form of central-left socialists, losing votes to small parties.
Minority governments have been unable to create an agreement that can ensure that a administration fulfills its constitutional four-year term without opposition parties to block its policy proposals and bring it down.
The ballot deepens political uncertainty such as Portugal is in the process of investing more than 22 billion euros ($ 24 billion) in the Development Fund of the European Union.
With the return of voter elections, dissatisfaction can bring dividends for the right -wing populist party Chaga (enough), which has fulfilled disappointment with two mainstream parties. Portugal has been caught in the growing European tide of localism, in which Chaga ranks third in last year’s election.
The government, led by Social Democrats in the alliance with a small party, collapsed amidst a dispute, which revolves around the possible conflicts of interests in the business behavior of the outgoing Prime Minister Louis Montenegro’s family law firm.
Montenegro, who says he will stand for reunion, has denied any wrongdoing. He said that he kept control of the firm in the hands of his wife and children when he became a social democratic leader in 2022 and did not participate in its running.
It recently emerged that the firm is receiving monthly payments from a company, with a major gambling concession given by the government among other sources of revenue.
Socialists demanded a parliamentary inquiry into Montenegro’s conduct.
Social Democrats are expecting a 1.9% economic growth last year compared with the European Union’s 0.8% average, and the unemployment rate of 6.4%, almost the European Union’s average, will keep their support stable.
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