From “cases and cases” to a judicial operation that led to the resignation of the Government

The PS government with an absolute majority, sworn in in March 2022, was characterized from the outset by marked internal instability, with “deeds and deeds”, and fell in November after a judicial inquiry in which the prime minister himself was involved.

In January of this year, after just ten months in office, the third director, led by António Costa, had already undergone four changes: 12 dismissals and the arrival of 14 new officials. The frequency of change is unparalleled compared to what happened in the two previous governments with a relative majority of PS, and which was largely due to the “incidents and affairs” associated with the behavior of ministers and secretaries of state.

To try to curb such cases, at the beginning of the year the Government introduced a mechanism for preliminary screening of persons invited to the positions of ministers and secretaries of state before their appointment by the President of the Republic, subjecting them to filling out a questionnaire. with information about their criminal, tax, property status and possible conflicts of interest.

But difficult situations continued, and the most serious of them occurred in May last year, when António Costa decided to keep João Galamba in government after incidents at the Ministry of Infrastructure, which began a crisis in relations with the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

First in writing and then in a message to the country on May 4, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa expressed “fundamental differences” regarding Galamba’s continued work in government, believing that this would entail costs for state power, and vowed to “continue to stand aside ” more attentive and more involved.”

Given this history of episodes, on November 7, for the first time in the history of Portuguese democracy, the official residence of the Prime Minister, namely the office of former chief of staff Victor Escaria, was searched as part of the trial. investigation into Sines data center installation and lithium and hydrogen business.

A few hours later, the last paragraph of the statement from the Attorney General’s Office announced that Prime Minister António Costa was the subject of an independent investigation opened by the Supreme Court as a result of this investigation.

In an address to the country, António Costa presented himself with his “head held high” and his “clear conscience” but declared that “the dignity of the role of Prime Minister is incompatible with any suspicion about his honesty, his integrity.” behavior and, moreover, with suspicion of committing any criminal act.”

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, immediately accepted the Prime Minister’s resignation and, after hearing the parties with seats in Parliament and the Council of State, announced on November 9 that he would dissolve Parliament and call legislative elections, rescheduled for March. 10th.

After the resignation of the Prime Minister, it became known that during searches carried out in the office of Vitor Escaria, more than 75 thousand euros in cash were found, as announced by the leader of the executive branch in his second address to the country on November 10. declare that he is embarrassed and apologize to the Portuguese.

Following António Costa’s decision to also resign from the leadership of the PS, direct elections were announced in the party, which was won by Pedro Nuno Santos, deputy and former minister of infrastructure and housing, whose opponents were the Minister of the Interior, José Luis Carneiro, and the Socialist leader, Daniel Adrian.

At the economic and financial level, the results contrast with the political turmoil that has engulfed the executive branch. The government expects to end the year with a budget surplus of 0.8% – the largest in the history of Portuguese democracy – and forecasts public debt to be less than 100% of gross domestic product in 2024.

Inflation, which topped 10% in October 2022, stood at 1.5% in November, the year the executive introduced a zero VAT measure on food deemed necessary to protect lower-income social classes. in the cost of living.

At peak employment (the employed population has exceeded five million) in 2024, the government will increase the number of retirees by 5.5–6% and government workers by 3–6.8%, approving a draft state budget in which the IRS will be cut overall by €1,300 million next year, with a particular focus on taxpayers up to category five.

Throughout the year, teachers continued to face accusations from the government that it had not agreed to a full reinstatement of previously frozen working hours (union fighting has been ongoing since 2019), and it faced several crises in hospital emergency services. In November, following the resignation of the prime minister, the executive reached a temporary wage agreement with one of the two largest medical unions, SIM.

This year also saw a worsening housing crisis, a phenomenon that particularly affected young people.

The government approved a package of measures that was vetoed by the President of the Republic and criticized by the opposition on the right and on the left for diametrically opposed reasons. Faced with a presidential veto, in contrast to what happened when the institutional relationship between Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and António Costa was characterized as good, the option of the absolute majority of the PS in Parliament was to move forward, confirming this set of diplomas without changes.