Portugal’s centre-right government lost a confidence vote Tuesday evening following ongoing accusations of conflicts of interest related to Prime Minister Luis Montenegro’s family business. The country’s president will now decide whether to dissolve the parliament and call new elections.
Portugal could be heading to its third general election in three years after the centre-right government of Prime Minister Luis Montenegro lost a vote of confidence on Tuesday evening.
Social Democratic Party leader Montenegro took office in April last year but without an absolute majority in parliament.
The vote was called over conflict-of-interest accusations against Montenegro involving a family business. A last-minute attempt to avoid the vote failed when terms could not be agreed for setting up a mooted parliamentary inquiry.
The government “tried everything right up to the last minute to avoid snap elections”, Montenegro said when leaving parliament.
The Socialist Party (PS), the main opposition party, and the far-right Chega party both voted to bring down the government.
The country’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, must now decide whether to dissolve the assembly and call new elections.
Montenegro, 52, in office for less than a year, told the start of a parliamentary debate on a vote of no-confidence that “I have committed no crime”.
But the sides failed to agree on the terms of the inquiry, and the confidence vote went ahead.
Santos said that move amounted to a “cowardly resignation”.
Read more on FRANCE 24 English
Read also:
Portugal’s centre-right leader Luis Montenegro appointed prime minister
Five decades on, what remains of the spirit of Portugal’s Carnation Revolution?