Hugo Delgado / Lusa
Government gathered after meeting of the Council of Ministers
Since Costa’s first executive, the number fired 48% and continued to rise with the AD government, now reaching a record of over 26,000 political and directive positions.
Political and directive positions in public administration increased 48% since 2015reaching a peak of 26,400 in the third quarter of 2024, already under the government of Luís Montenegro. Growth reverses the drop trend registered during the troika, according to a study by the most freedom institute.
The report analyzes public jobs on a service committee, political or mandate positions, covering the central, regional and local administration. Among political positions, are included Advisers and Personnel for Support for Office of the government, parliamentary groups and municipalities, describes the.
Big shot in the PS government
In 2011, with the arrival of the troika, the number of directive positions fell to about 21 thousand, coming down even more to 18,000 at the end of the Passos Coelho term. However, with the entry of the government of António Costa in 2015, the trend reversed, reaching 25,900 in the first quarter of 2024.
After Montenegro’s inauguration in April, the numbers continued to grow, reaching 26 358 in September. Although statistics also include health and education professionals, most positions created in recent years has a political character.
The study points out that some legislative changes have helped boost this growth. Law No. 69/2021, for example, increased the number of representatives of the Legislature and accounted for for the first time elected from the parish councils. In 2022, they were Added 1430 Positions of this category. Even discounting this value, the total number of political positions and service commission would still have a 40% increase compared to 2015.
For André Pinção Lucas, executive director of Instituto Mais Freedom, society should demand more transparency about the reasons for increases. Speaking to Jornal de Notícias, Pinção Lucas criticized what he called “a very Portuguese habit”: the creation of working groups and leadership positions in response to problems, but no real effectiveness.
