Portuguese democracy lived an unusual event on Saturday. The Prime Minister, Luís Montenegro, convened an Extraordinary Council of Ministers dedicated to addressing the political crisis unleashed by, which he founded in January 2021 and transferred his wife and children in June 2022, when he became leader of the Social Democráta Party (PSD, Centroderecha). At the end, Montenegro addressed the population in an institutional discourse held at the Palacio de São Bento, its official residence in Lisbon, to announce that it is willing to undergo a motion of confidence in the Assembly of the Republic to try to “clarify” the current situation if the opposition considers that the Government has no conditions to follow.
If the opposition votes against the motion, the country would hold early elections for the third time in three years. “I will not be here at any price,” said the prime minister, after criticizing “the exhibition” to which he was submitted in recent times by the press, which has brought to light.
Montenegro defended himself from opposition criticism and assured that all the information that has been disseminated in recent days was in his interest statements. “I have not committed any crime or ethical failure,” he said. The prime minister also reported that from now on his wife will get rid of the company, which will pass to his two children, and that the registered office will no longer be in his own domicile of Espinho.
The first opposition leader to react to the speech was, of the ultra -rightist, who announced that his party will vote against the motion of trust and described as “fled forward” the words of the prime minister. Also Pedro Nuno Santos, general secretary of the Socialist Party, said he will vote against, as he had already warned in the past. “We do not want instability, we want clarifications, but they present the motion of trust, we will vote against.” The socialist leader accused Montenegro of not answering the questions, “victimized” and acting with “arrogance” in his speech.
Also liberal initiative, a more restrained party when criticizing the government, has censored Montenegro’s intervention for not offering exits to the crisis generated by family businesses. “The prime minister did not perceive the seriousness of the situation in which he is wrapped,” said his leader, Rui Rocha. However, the announcement made by the Portuguese Communist Party will present a motion of censure against the Executive could alter the plans of the motion of trust.
Since the existence of Spinumviva, Montenegro, which came to power 11 months in front of a coalition between the center-right (PSD) and the conservatives (Democratic and Social-Popular Party), has denied that there are conflicts of interest between their political work and the activities of the firm. While at the beginning he woke up, taking into account that the Government approved a legal reform that will allow to build in rustic soils, the most controversial issue would become the work of consulting and advice of Spinumviva. The creation of society was carried out in an interval in which Montenegro left the first line of politics and focused on private activity, from the company and a firm.
Motion of censure
After the outbreak of the crisis, the ultra -right party Chega presented against the prime minister, who failed when he did not receive support from any other political force. In that session, Montenegro revealed Spinumviva’s economic activity but refused to facilitate the list of customers and employees. The diffusion in Express That Solverde, the group that manages several casinos in Portugal, has been paying since July 2021 to the signing of the Prime Minister’s family 4,500 euros per month for “specialized services of compliance [cumplimiento normativo] and definition of procedures in the domain of the protection of personal data, ”the crisis exacerbated. This Friday, while accompanying President Emmanuel Macron during his official visit to Portugal, Montenegro announced the Council of Extraordinary Ministers and a speech to report his conclusions after “a deep evaluation of the conditions of my personal, professional and political life.”
The situation of the prime minister has been aggravated as the days passed, with several journalistic revelations related to the activity of the family business and its heritage. In it Morning Mail This Saturday, it is reported that Luís Montenegro, his wife and two twenty -year -old children paid 715,000 euros in which two apartments in Lisbon, acquired in two operations carried out in December 2023 and November 2024.
Casinos Company
For its part, Express It reveals that Spinumviva, a month in periodic contributions made by the five companies that hired their services when it was still in the hands of Luís Montenegro and that contributions have continued when management passed to his wife. The main client is Solverde, the group that manages several casinos in Portugal and that at the end of this year will opt for the contest to renew the granting of two of them. A decision that depends on the Ministry of Economy.
In his stage as a lawyer, the current prime minister represented Solverde in the negotiations with the previous government. Montenegro already announced in the plenary of the motion of censure held last week that would refrain from intervening in decisions related to the company.
