Marcelo inaugurates Frederico Francisco as Undersecretary of State for Infrastructure

This Wednesday, the President of the Republic swore in Frederico Francisco as Undersecretary of State and Infrastructure, who was reappointed to the government and now reports to the Prime Minister.

The inauguration ceremony, to which the media were not invited, took place this Wednesday afternoon at the Belém Palace in Lisbon, according to a statement on the official website of the President of the Republic.

“Early in the afternoon, the President of the Republic swore in at the Belém Palace the Undersecretary of State and Infrastructure of the XXIII Constitutional Government, Frederico André Branco dos Reis Francisco,” can be read in a short note.

This note is accompanied by five photographs of the inauguration ceremony, in which you can see the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, Frederico Francisco, as well as Prime Minister António Costa, who took over a portfolio of infrastructure projects.

On Wednesday morning it was announced that the President of the Republic has accepted the reappointment of Frederico Francisco, who will become Under-Secretary of State for Infrastructure under Prime Minister António Costa.

“In accordance with paragraph 2 of Article 7 of Decree-Law No. 32/2022 of May 9, with the dismissal of the Minister of Infrastructure, his functions were assumed by the Prime Minister. The President of the Republic has therefore accepted the proposal to reappoint Frederico André Branco dos Reis Francisco, the previous Secretary of State for Infrastructure, as the new Under-Secretary of State for Infrastructure, depending on the Prime Minister,” the document reads.

The decree cited in the note concerns the organization and functioning of the XXIII Constitutional Government, according to which “the Prime Minister may temporarily exercise the powers conferred by this decree-law on the minister in the event of termination of his/her powers.” functions/The”.

On Monday, the President of the Republic immediately dismissed the Minister of Infrastructure, João Galamba, and the Secretary of State for the Economy, Pedro Silinio, who had been proposed to him by the Prime Minister.

João Galamba, an indictment under Operation Man of Influence, resigned from his post as infrastructure minister early on Monday morning, which he justified as the need to ensure peace and privacy for his family, which was accepted by the authorities. Prime Minister.

The decisions taken this Wednesday follow a meeting on Tuesday between the President of the Republic and the Prime Minister at the Belém Palace, which lasted an hour and a half and the outcome of which was not announced.

Last week, the Prime Minister already announced that he would meet with the head of state last Tuesday precisely to discuss the issue of João Galamba in the government.

João Galamba had already resigned about six months ago, on May 2, following incidents at the Ministry of Infrastructure related to his office, but the Prime Minister did not accept this request at the time.

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, publicly expressed his disagreement with the decision of António Costa, considering that it damaged the authority of the government and the state.

In the current government, which took office on March 30 last year, João Galamba was the first Secretary of State for Environment and Energy until January 4 of this year, the date on which he took office as Minister of Infrastructure, after leaving the Government. Pedro Nuno Santos, the minister who combined this portfolio with housing.

As for Frederico, the newly appointed Secretary of State replaced Hugo Mendes on January 4 in a reshuffle that saw Pedro Nuno Santos leave his post as Minister of Infrastructure and be replaced by João Galamba.