New administration set to take oath of office "within a week's time"
Fresh Take
After tapping Luís Montenegro as prime minister, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa swung by the Arco Lisboa contemporary art fair at the Cordoaria Nacional. The gaffer spent well over an hour there before bouncing without a peep to the press.
"Ain't got nothin' to say," he quipped, "Prime Minister's been appointed, and he's now assembling a government." As he cast off, the head honcho hinted that the new government's swearing-in ceremony would take place "next week, unless things change."
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa got his Prime Minister title eleven days following the unexpected early legislative elections of May 18. The AD (PSD/CDS-PP) coalition nabbed the victory, with no absolute majority, setting the stage for a bit of horse-trading.
Article 187 of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic dictates that "the Prime Minister is appointed by the President of the Republic, after chatting with the parties represented in the Assembly of the Republic and considering the election results."
During the latter half of the previous week, the chief exec heard the ranks of the ten parties that secured seats in the early legislative elections: PSD, PS, Chega, IL, Livre, PCP, CDS-PP, BE, PAN, and JPP.
The election winners, the AD (PSD/CDS-PP), fronted by Luís Montenegro, took home around 31% of the votes – a tally of 31.79%, with the votes from mainland Portugal and Madeira alongside those from the Azores archipelago resulted with the PSD/CDS/PPM coalition.
Garnering 91 seats out of 230 on offer, the AD party notched 89 representatives from the PSD and two from the CDS-PP.
The distribution of mandates for expats bolstered Chega's position as the second most influential political force in parliament, racking up 60 seats—twice the amount won by the PS, who led in overall votes.
The IL made it to the fourth spot on the parliamentary pecking order with nine seats, trailing Livre, with six, the PCP, with three, and the BE, PAN, and JPP, clocking in with one each.
Luís Montenegro, fresh off the top job after a whopping eight-year rule by the PS, gears up to head his second administrative crew, which will helm the XXV Constitutional Government of Portugal.
Following Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa's appointment of Luís Montenegro as prime minister, the upcoming swearing-in ceremony is anticipated, according to the president. Meanwhile, the distribution of mandates has resulted in the AD party, led by Montenegro, securing the most seats in the assembly, while policy-and-legislation discussions are expected as the new government forms, with potential implications in the politics and general-news sectors.
