The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, inaugurates this Friday the new 41st Secretary of State of the XXIV Constitutional Government in a ceremony at the Palacio da Ajuda in Lisbon.
The names of the secretaries of state were announced on Thursday evening, more than three hours after Prime Minister Luis Montenegro left the Belém Palace following his first weekly meeting with the President of the Republic.
The inauguration of the secretaries of state is scheduled for 18:00 at the National Palace of Ajuda in Lisbon.
In total, the government led by Luis Montenegro has 59 members, the same number as first leader António Costa, including 17 women as secretaries of state.
Luís Montenegro will not have a single secretary of state under his direct leadership, unlike former head of government António Costa, who had four at the end of the 23rd constitutional government.
In more political portfolios, the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs, led by Pedro Duarte, will have two secretariats of state.
Carlos Abreu Amorim, a former deputy, doctor of laws and university professor, will return to the center of the political scene as Under Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs.
The Ministry of the President, headed by António Leitan Amaru, will have two secretaries of state: Paulo López Marcelo, President of the Council of Ministers, and Ruy Armindo Freiras, Deputy and President.
Paulo Lopez Marcelo is a lawyer and university professor with a Master’s degree in European Law. He was chief of staff to former Minister of Environment, Physical Planning and Energy and current Director of the United Nations, Jorge Moreira da Silva.
As for the XXIII government, the Ministry of the President remains without the areas of planning and public administration, the latter returning to the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance.
The 41 secretaries of state who take office today will join the 17 ministers and prime minister already sworn in on Tuesday.
Two secretaries of state are vice-presidents of the CDS-PP, the party with which the PSD competed in the legislative elections: Telmo Correia and Álvaro Castello Branco.
Regarding the number of women, Luis Montenegro has already chosen seven ministers, to which 17 secretaries of state have now been added.
There are two ministries that are entirely composed of women: justice and health.
In the matter of justice, Minister Rita Yudice is now joined by Secretaries of State Maria José Barros and Maria Clara Figueiredo.
At the Ministry of Health, Ana Paula Martins will accompany Ana Povo and Cristina Vaz Thomé, the latter receiving a new portfolio called “Health Management”.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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