Parliament rejects confidence motion and forces government collapse

Parliament on Tuesday rejected the motion of confidence presented Luís Montenegro’s government, with the Socialists (PS), far-right Chega, the Communist Party, Left Bloc, Livre and PAN voting against, bringing down the government.

The final result came as no surprise, since the main party leaders had already signalled their vote intentions, with the government and PS pressuring each other to change their position in order to avoid new elections (the third in the space of three years). Only the parties of the Democratic Alliance (AD), the PSD/CDS-PP, and the Liberal Initiative voted in favour of the motion.

At the root of the controversy is the Prime Minister’s family business, Spinumviva, and a potential conflict of interest. Among the clients is the Solverde group, as between 2018 and 2022, before he was PSD president and prime-minister, Montenegro led the negotiations with the previous government to extend the concession contract for the group’s Espinho and Algarve casinos.

It subsequently came to light that the company receives monthly payments from various clients, including Solverde, which paid 4,500 euros a month for consultancy services in the area of data protection, until it tore up the contract with Montenegro’s company on 5 March.

Although the prime-minister refused to reveal Spinumviva’s client list, the company did so in a statement sent to the press, in which it also disclosed the names of the company’s employees. After PS announced that it would request a parliamentary commission of enquiry (CPI), Luís Montenegro announced on 5 March that he would present a motion of confidence.

Portuguese president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa last week said that if the government fell, he would immediately hold meetings with the parties and the Council of State (his advisory board), before calling snap elections, which are likely to take place on 11 or 18 May.