Portugal’s president was on Wednesday holding talks with political leaders on whether to call fresh elections, after Prime Minister Luis Montenegro’s government lost a vote of no confidence.
Montenegro, who came to power last year but without a parliamentary majority, quit on Tuesday following the defeat, which was called over a possible conflict of interest row.
Head of state Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will discuss the way ahead in meetings Wednesday with Montenegro’s Social Democratic Party (PSD), the main opposition Socialist Party, the far-right Chega party and others.
Further consultations are expected on Thursday with the Council of State, a consultative body made up of high-ranking politicians, before giving his decision either Thursday evening or Friday.
Rebelo de Sousa last week indicated that he was working on “all scenarios”.
Depending on the discussions with the new parties, he could try to form a new government. Alternatively, he could dissolve parliament and call fresh elections.
New elections are seen as the most likely outcome and if called would be the third such vote since 2022. The president has already said they could be held on May 11 or 18.
The president previously opted for elections after the resignation in November 2023 of the Socialist Antonio Costa, who was implicated in an alleged influence-peddling case.
Costa, who has always denied any irregularities, became president of the European Council in June last year.
The controversy that led to Montenegro’s downfall centred around a services company owned by his wife and children which has contracts with a number of private firms, including one granted state concessions.
The former prime minister has said that the family business would now be owned solely by his children but the opposition insisted he provided further details.
Montenegro has said he would stand for re-election if a ballot was called but some Portuguese voters were not enthralled at the prospect.
“We had elections a year ago and now we have them again? That doesn’t seem very good for the country in my opinion,” one Lisbon resident, Maria Leonor, told AFP.
The financial ratings company DBRS Morningstar said: “This increases political uncertainty in Portugal at a time when external risks have increased significantly and pressures to spend more in defence are building up.
“The prospect that new elections can quickly resolve the political impasse is uncertain. Latest opinion polls suggest a relatively similar distribution of seats if new elections are called.”
An opinion poll published Tuesday in the Diario de Noticias newspaper suggested the Socialists were slightly ahead on voting intentions at 30.8 percent.
The centre-right Democratic Alliance grouping headed by Montenegro was on 25.8 percent, followed by Chega at about 17 percent.
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