Costa is returning to parliament with the PRR and TAP controversy at the center of the debate.

The Prime Minister returns to Parliament this Wednesday for a bimonthly general policy debate, six days after the Liberal Initiative government’s no-confidence vote and with the TAP controversy at the center of party debate.

Focusing on the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (PRR), António Costa is opening another general policy debate after a number of cases in his government team that have even raised doubts in some political circles as to whether the current government will reach the end of the legislature in 2026 year, despite the fact that the PS has an absolute majority in the Assembly of the Republic.

Between the last week of December and last Thursday, Pedro Nuno Santos stepped down as Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, and the Secretaries of State Hugo Santos Méndez (Infrastructure), Alexandra Reis (Treasury) and, most recently, on the other hand, Carla Alves. (Agriculture).

Last Friday, the President of the Republic dispelled doubts about the succession of legislative power that began in March 2022. “Don’t count on the idea of ​​dissolving parliament,” warned Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, taking on the role of defender of “stability in general institutional terms” and the elimination of the short-term scenario of a political crisis in Portugal.

At an institutional level, a succession of cases in the executive branch led the PSD to demand last Wednesday an urgent parliamentary debate on the “crisis” in the executive branch and the Liberal Initiative to present a vote of no confidence in the government, which was rejected by the PS and the PKP and lacked the support of the social Democrats, the Left Bloc and the individual deputies of the PAN and Livre.

In government and in the PS, the political orientation at the top is to “turn the page” with a focus on “the most pressing issues facing the country”, namely the implementation of the PDP. Since last week, the prime minister has visited ongoing projects in Leiria, Lisbon, Almada, Braga or Benavente.

The high-quality and timely implementation of the PDP is one of the main requirements of the President of the Republic, for whom 2023 will be decisive for the Government.

This Wednesday’s debate is on the case of the €500k compensation paid to the former finance minister to keep the TAP administration still at the center of the political debate, and the day after PS announced it would make it possible, due to abstentions, Block de Esquerde’s proposal to create a parliamentary commission to investigate the activities of the national air carrier.

In the current situation, the PSD has distanced itself from the Liberal and Sufficient Initiative by supporting a vote of no confidence in the government, and its president, Luis Montenegro, has shown that he agrees with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa by rejecting the dissolution of parliament and the call for early elections.

However, the PSD points to the high wear and tear of Finance Minister Fernando Medina, doubting that he has the political conditions to remain in office, as well as the “incompetence and lack of leadership” in António Costa’s team.

The PSD also expects António Costa to answer questions sent to him on November 23 about possible political interference by the government in Banco de Portugal, namely in the process of selling Banif.

António Costa asked last week for an extension of the initial 30-day response period, causing PSD parliamentary leader Joaquim Miranda Sarmento to feel that the prime minister “shows by this postponement that he is not at peace with what he has done regarding Banco de Portugal and Banif.

In addition to Fernando Medina’s position in the government, especially Chega demanded the resignation of the current Minister of Foreign Affairs, Joao Cravinho, for this as the holder of the defense portfolio in the previous executive, proceeding to appoint Alberto Coelho to the administration of a public company when there were already clear signs of committing “serious violations” .