Centre-right leader Luis Montenegro announced Portugal's new PM

By Al Mayadeen English
21 Mar 2024 13:03

Luis Montenegro has been elected as Portugal's new PM despite not gaining a majority vote.

Luis Montenegro, leader of the center-right Democratic Alliance coalition on Wednesday, March 20, 2024. (AP)

Luis Montenegro, lawyer and leader of the Portuguese right-wing Social Democratic Party and the Democratic Alliance coalition, has officially been appointed as Portugal's new prime minister.

Portugal had been one of the few European countries led by the Left until former Prime Minister Antonio Costa of the Socialist Party abruptly resigned amid a "graft investigation" that looked into his place of residence and sacked his chief of staff.

Despite gaining 79 seats out of 230, Montenegro secured his win by vowing to induce economic growth through reduced taxes, improving public health services, and enhancing education services that have taken a hit due to teacher strikes calling for better pay.

The Democratic Alliance, which forms Montenegro's Social Democratic Party and two smaller conservative parties, also gained the support of the Liberal Initiative Party, though it would still need to garner the backing of the Anti-immigration Party, Chega, to reach a 116-majority in parliament.

Following Montenegro's meeting with Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, reporters revealed that his government will be introduced and officially instated on April 2.

The Socialist Party's Predicament

Montenegro's first real challenge will be brokering a state budget by 2025. In this context, new Socialist leader Pedro Nuno Santos declared that his party would abstain from obstructing a right-wing government, but would vote against its first proposed budget.

Santos also revealed he was prepared to vote for a governmental amendment that boosts the salaries of teachers, nurses, police officers, and court clerks. However, he said that a favorable vote sponsored by the Socialist Party was "impossible".

His remarks on the new government, nevertheless, were positive, saying there are concerns about an unstable government because none of the parties are interested in inciting a crisis.

The ruling Socialist Democratic Party, currently led by Santos, will possibly try to rekindle their old alliances with the Left Bloc and the Communists, which enabled them to govern between 2015 and 2019 if the allied left wins more than 115 seats in the 230-seat parliament, Reuters further reported.

Former prime minister Costa said there would be "no change" to Portugal's foreign policy.