Portugal will hold snap parliamentary elections on March 10, its second in two years, following the sudden resignation of Socialist Prime Minister António Costa on Tuesday amid a corruption probe.
However, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said he would dissolve Parliament, where the Socialist Party holds the majority of seats, only after the final vote on the 2024 budget bill, scheduled for November 29. The Chamber approved the project in the first session on October 31st.
In a speech after meeting on Thursday with his consultative body, the Council of State, and speaking to the main political parties the day before, Rebelo de Sousa said that allowing parliamentarians to approve the Budget “will allow us to satisfy the expectations of many Portuguese”.
The plan calls for lower income tax rates for the middle class, social benefits aimed at the poorest and a 24% increase in public investment to stimulate slow economic growth.
By law, elections must be held within 60 days of the publication of the presidential decree dissolving Parliament.
Costa resigned as prime minister on Tuesday after prosecutors arrested his chief of staff in an investigation into alleged illegalities in his government’s handling of lithium and hydrogen projects.
Investigators said Costa was also the subject of a related investigation. She has denied any wrongdoing.
Source: Terra
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