Latest news with #MarceloRebeloDeSousa
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Luis Montenegro appointed as Prime Minister of Portugal following elections results
The Portuguese President has appointed Luis Montenegro as Prime Minister of Portugal, following the results of the recent election. The official confirmation followed a series of meetings between Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and leaders from the most voted parties that resulted from the 18 May ballot. (AP Video by Helena Alves)
Bloomberg
2 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Portugal's Montenegro Is Formally Named Premier for Second Term
Portugal's center-right leader Luis Montenegro was formally named prime minister for a second term after his ruling coalition won a snap election earlier this month. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced the appointment in a statement on the presidency's website on Thursday evening. The president met different parties earlier, and said parliament will allow the new minority administration to start governing.
Reuters
2 days ago
- Business
- Reuters
Portugal's president invites caretaker PM to lead new government
LISBON, May 29 (Reuters) - Portugal's president named Luis Montenegro, head of the centre-right Democratic Alliance (AD) that won a snap national election on May 18, as the prime minister on Thursday and invited him to form his second minority government, the presidency said. The AD won 91 seats in the 230-seat parliament - 11 more than in the previous legislature, but still far from a working majority - in an election marked by far-right party Chega replacing the Socialist Party (PS) as the main opposition force. Montenegro, who first came to power in March 2024, has refused to make any deals with the anti-establishment, anti-immigration Chega, which garnered 60 seats, two more than the PS after the latter's worst showing in four decades. The office of President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said in a statement after he consulted the three main parties on Thursday that Montenegro would announce his new government after parliament convenes for its first session. No confirmation vote is required, although any party can present a motion of rejection. The election, the third in as many years, was called after Montenegro failed to win a vote of confidence in March when the opposition questioned his integrity over dealings of his family's consultancy firm. He has denied any wrongdoing and voters ended up punishing the PS for its role in bringing down Montenegro's government, in what many people saw as an unnecessary election. Parliament is expected to enable the new government on its return next week. PS's interim leader, Carlos Cesar, promised his support in that initial step. While the government's first big test is likely to be the 2026 budget towards the end of the year, no new parliamentary poll can be called until at least mid-2026 because Portugal will hold a presidential election next January. Although that doesn't guarantee political stability, the centre-left PS's weakened position is likely to make them a more amenable opposition with more affinities with the AD than with Chega, analysts say, seeing little danger of a legislative paralysis in the medium term.
Bloomberg
3 days ago
- Business
- Bloomberg
Portugal President to Meet Parties Before Naming Prime Minister
Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will hold meetings with parties on Thursday after the May 18 election vote count was concluded. The early election was won by Prime Minister Luis Montenegro's center-right AD coalition, which added seats in parliament while still falling short of an absolute majority.
BreakingNews.ie
19-05-2025
- Politics
- BreakingNews.ie
Portuguese election brings another minority government amid far-right rise
Portugal's President will convene the country's political parties for consultations on Monday, after a general election delivered another minority government as well as an unprecedented showing by populist party Chega (Enough) that added momentum to Europe's shift to the far-right. The centre-right Democratic Alliance, led by the Social Democratic Party, captured 89 seats in the 230-seat National Assembly to win Sunday's ballot. Advertisement The outcome leaves it without a parliamentary majority, however, and vulnerable to opposition parties that ousted it two months ago in a confidence vote after less than a year in power. Portugal's third general election in three years provided little hope for ending the worst spell of political instability for decades in the European Union country of 10.6 million people. Social Democratic Party leader Luis Montenegro will likely lead a minority government (AP) 'The Portuguese don't want any more early elections,' Luis Montenegro, the Democratic Alliance leader and incoming prime minister, said in an appeal for opposition parties to let him serve a full four-year term. 'We all have to be able to speak to each other and put the national interest first,' he added. Advertisement Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who has no executive power, is due to consult with the parties before inviting the election winner to form a government. Chega's result shook up the traditional balance of power in a trend already witnessed elsewhere in Europe with parties such as France's National Rally, the Brothers of Italy, and Alternative for Germany, which are now in the political mainstream. Leader Andre Ventura has appeared at events with the leaders of those parties in recent years. For the past 50 years, the Social Democrats and the centre-left Socialist Party have alternated in power in Portugal. Advertisement Socialist Party secretary general Pedro Nuno Santos stepped down after the party's worst result in nearly four decades (AP) Chega collected the same number of seats as the Socialists – 58 – and could yet claim second place when four remaining seats decided by voters abroad are attributed in coming days. 'The two-party system is over,' Mr Ventura, a lawyer and former soccer pundit, said. Chega competed in its first election just six years ago, when it won one seat, and has fed off disaffection over the more moderate traditional parties. Campaigning under the slogan 'Save Portugal', it describes itself as a nationalist party and has focused on curbing immigration and cracking down on corruption. Advertisement The Socialists, meanwhile, are without a leader after Pedro Nuno Santos said he was standing down after the party's worst result since 1987. The Democratic Alliance, which also includes the smaller Popular Party, lost a confidence vote in parliament in March as opposition legislators teamed up against it. That triggered an early election, which had been due in 2028. Chega's success is part of a wider picture of far-right gains across Europe (AP) The confidence vote was sparked by a political storm around potential conflicts of interest in the business dealings of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro's family law firm. Mr Montenegro has denied any wrongdoing. Corruption scandals have dogged Portuguese politics in recent years, helping fuel the rise of Chega. Advertisement But the party has recently fallen foul of its own legislators' alleged wrongdoing. One is suspected of stealing suitcases from the Lisbon airport and selling the contents online, and another allegedly faked the signature of a dead woman. Both resigned. Chega owes much of its success to its demands for a tighter immigration policy that have resonated with voters. Portugal has witnessed a steep rise in immigration. In 2018, there were fewer than a half-million legal immigrants in the country, according to government statistics. By early this year, there were more than 1.5 million, many of them Brazilians and Asians working in tourism and farming. Thousands more lack the proper documents to be in Portugal. The Democratic Alliance government announced two weeks before the election that it was expelling about 18,000 foreigners living in the country without authorisation. Though such a step is routine, the timing drew accusations that it was trying to capture votes from Chega. A housing crisis has also fired up debate. House prices and rents have been soaring for the past 10 years, due in part to an influx of white-collar foreigners who have driven up prices. The problem is compounded by Portugal being one of Western Europe's poorest countries.
