It was after listening to all the parties with parliamentary seats and after the second hearing of the day between the head of state and the leader of the AD, at the Pal??cio de Bel??m, that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa formalized the appointment, even before the official results were published.
Lu??s Montenegro had been received by the head of state for the first time on Wednesday at 5pm, as leader of the AD, in a meeting that lasted around an hour and forty minutes and in which he was accompanied by the president of the CDS-PP, Nuno Melo, and by social democratic leaders Hugo Soares and Paulo Rangel.
He later returned to the Bel??m Palace for a short audience alone that lasted around 20 minutes with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, during which he was nominated as prime minister. The expectation is that the inauguration as leader of the Government will take place on April 2nd.
The decision was published on the Presidency’s page where Marcelo informed that he “decided to nominate Dr. Lu??s Montenegro as Prime Minister”, after he had presented “in a timely manner to the President of the Republic the organization and composition of the XXIV Constitutional Government“.
According to the head of state, Montenegro’s appointment comes after the secretary general of the Socialist Party, Pedro Nuno Santos, “recognised and confirmed that he would be leader of the opposition”.
After the nomination, Montenegro reacted to Marcelo’s decision, stressing that the decision, even though “from the 20th to the 21st” was “important” and at a “late hour”, given that he would have a meeting with the president of the European Commission and with the leaders of political parties that make up the European People’s Party.
The president of the PSD justified that, due to this agenda, “it was unfeasible” to be nominated during the morning and, on the other hand, “it was useful to participate in these meetings already as prime minister-designate”.
PSD will take leadership after nine years
The 19th president of the PSD will assume leadership of the Government – nine years after the party left power in 2015 – without having had executive experience, although he has already said publicly that he refused three times to occupy positions in the Government (with Santana Lopes and two with Passos Coelho) for family reasons.
Lu??s Montenegro‘s first act as prime minister-designate coincides with Ant??nio Costa’s last participation as prime minister in the European Council meeting, which begins this Thursday afternoon.
According to a party source, in this “first act as prime minister-designate”, Montenegro will “express a total commitment and a clear signal” regarding membership of the EU.
The outgoing Prime Minister, Ant??nio Costa, congratulated Lu??s Montenegro on his appointment and assured that the “Government will naturally ensure the best collaboration in the transition of portfolios and the installation of the XXIV constitutional Government”.
Ant??nio Costa also wished Lu??s Montenegro “best wishes for greater success in governance, for the good of Portugal and the Portuguese.”
The Democratic Alliance (AD) won the March 10 legislative elections with 28.84% of the votes and 80 deputies, according to provisional results.
The PS was the second most voted party with 28% and 78 deputies, after the process of counting votes from European and Non-European circles concluded on Wednesday.
The AD’s total results from the sum of the result of the PSD/CDS/PPM coalition – 28.02% and 77 deputies – to that obtained by the PSD/CDS coalition in Madeira, with 0.82% and three deputies.