The President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, signed this Monday (15) a decree establishing the dissolution of the country's Parliament and scheduling legislative elections for March 10th.
The rule, included in the Diário da República, comes into force today and makes official what was already announced by the president on November 9, after the political crisis broke out with the resignation of the prime minister, the socialist António Costa.
The conclusions drawn from the meeting that the Portuguese State Council held on November 9th with Rebelo de Sousa, hours before announcing to the population its decision to call elections, were also released this Monday.
The consultative body, made up of the Prime Minister himself, former heads of state and the presidents of Parliament, among other authorities, “did not speak out in favor of such a dissolution” after a tied vote, according to the publication.
On that day, the Portuguese president publicly declared that he opted for early elections by “his own decision”, considering that the victory of the socialists in 2022, which gave them an absolute majority, was personalized in the figure of Costa himself and claiming that the Executive will govern with another first -minister would be a “weaker” alternative.
This is the ninth time that Portugal has gone to early elections since democracy was established in 1974, after the fall of the dictatorship led by António de Oliveira Salazar. The lists of deputies will be delivered by January 29th, while the electoral campaign will begin on February 25th.
The political crisis began on 7 November when the Portuguese Public Prosecutor's Office announced 'Operation Influencer', which investigates irregularities in the lithium and hydrogen business, which in turn led to an investigation into Costa at the Supreme Court of Justice after several suspects mentioned the prime minister's involvement in wiretapping. Costa submitted his resignation that same day.
Although there is no further official information, the Portuguese newspaper Observer recently reported that suspicions about Costa center on a crime of malfeasance.
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