\u201cObviously, I have presented my resignation\u201d. The words uttered by the Portuguese Prime Minister Ant\u00f3nio Costa announcing his resignation echo the response of General Humberto Delgado in May 1958. After a journalist asked him what he would do with Dictator Oliveira Salazar if he were elected president of the Republic, the General replied, \u201cObviously, I\u2019ll sack him\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After almost eight years in office, Antonio Costa has resigned after the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office went public about inquiries that pointed not only to his inner circle but also to Costa himself. They have been accused of alleged corruption and prevarication linked to lithium mining concessions, a green hydrogen production project and the construction of a datacentre in the town of Sines. Although he had outright majority in the Assembly of the Republic, Costa perfectly understood the fragile position he was in and the resulting erosion of democratic institution; he sacrificed himself to preserve the Republic\u2019s dignity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Two days after Costa quit, and after summoning political parties and the Council of State for consultations, the president of the Republic decided to dissolve the Assembly and called a snap election on 10 March 2024. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has justified the four-month term with the need to pass a budget and to finish the execution of the UE Recovery Plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Costa deserves the credit of forming the first\u2014and to this day the only\u2014coalition government in Portugal. In 2015, notwithstanding the defeat of the Socialist Party in the legislative elections, the left gained majority in parliament after Costa managed to formalize a political alliance with the Left Bloc and the Communist Party. By forming a coalition, he broke the boundaries of the so-called \u201carc of governance\u201d and, as Prime Minister, tackled another \u201crevolution\u201d, this time as regards to budgetary policy. Thanks to a successful accounting policy, the State closed 2019 with a 0.2% GDP surplus, a goal that should be in place this year as the budget year is forecasted to close with positive balance of 0.8%. National debt is also predicted to fall to 98.9% of GDP. Costa\u2019s government has also made headway in digitalisation, administrative simplification, decentralisation processes, and acceleration of investments in renewable energies. In the social sphere, it has implemented cost-free textbooks and reduced the school dropout rate to 5.9% while maintaining Portugal united during the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the bad side, Costa\u2019s government could be reproached for its ambivalent demeanour towards \u201chot\u201d files like the privatization process of the national airline TAP, in which billions of public funds were squandered to fulfil ideological and political agendas. Public healthcare has also been one of its kryptonates as the policies carried out worsened an already unstable situation due to lack of family doctors and nurses caused by extremely low wages. Lastly, things haven\u2019t quite worked out economically in a context characterized by the accumulation of crises (debt, COVID-19, the war in Ukraine): impoverishment of the middle class, the rise of poverty and youth unemployment rates, and the severe housing crisis, especially in the Greater Lisbon area.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a context framed by the rumours, leaks, and inconsistencies of the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office, many speak openly of a democratic crisis\u2014the most important of Portugal\u2019s 50 years of democracy\u2014rather than a mere political crisis. Whether the crimes of corruption and bribery of which the inner core of the government is accused are confirmed or dismissed (which seems likely), the country finds itself in a serious case of unequal distribution of power, insofar as the judiciary has been responsible for the fall of a democratic government through biased investigations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regarding the allegations against the defendants and everyone investigated, it appears that the so-called \u201cOperation Influencer\u201d is actually nothing else than a successful case of lobbying in relation to a large foreign investment in support of general interests. Hence, the investigating judge in charge of the case has announced no evidence of corruption or prevarication has been found related to the investigated public officials (although maintaining minor influence-peddling charges), and decreed the release of all five detainees. Nonetheless, there still may be developments on the case in the upcoming weeks as the investigation remains ongoing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Regardless of the outcome of the investigations, the case has already significantly damaged the credibility of a judiciary that has been under increasing scrutiny in recent years. This has also damaged public opinion further fuelling distrust towards politicians and institutions. And all things considered, only populism stands to gain. In a situation of anticipated elections called by surprise and four months away, it is rather difficult to evaluate the possibilities of each party, even though it seems that from today to March the PS can climb up. In fact, surveys indicate that they are neck and neck with the PSD, the first party of a right-wing opposition that is in the middle of a restructuring process\u2014the CDS, the People\u2019s Party, did not obtain parliamentary representation in the 2022 elections while the PSD is unable to solve its recurrent leadership issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For its part, and since the collapse of the so-called \u201cgeringon\u00e7a\u201d (the alliance between the PS, the Communist Party and the Left Bloc), warning signs keep multiplying on the PS\u2019 left side. The anticipated return to the polls could then represent the ultimate trial for a politic system that was until now considered robust, and based on the power switching between the PS and the PSD, the two biggest political parties. Moreover, the polls could offer an opportunity to the far right, who is no longer hiding its ambitions of debilitating the PSD and distancing themselves from the Liberal Initiative. Opinion polls predict a spectacular surge of votes forthe right-wing populist party Chegaseeing that they could climb from 7.5% to 15% and become the key element to form a right wing government.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The consequences of Antonio Costa\u2019s resignation go beyond the Portuguese case. It demonstrates that if in a state of law the Public Prosecutor is responsible for autonomously carrying out its criminal proceedings, it should be emphasised that, in accordance with the democratic framework, its autonomy comes from the strict obedience to democratic legality. Therefore, and without prejudice to its autonomy, the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office cannot\u2014and must not\u2014take decisions without being responsible for precisely its autonomy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, the resigning Prime Minister and other government leaders have suggested that, in certain cases, political necessity and the demands of economic life may force them to consider that the practical application of laws is based on other criteria than rigour. That is, the public interest defined by the politicians themselves. This at a time when, and not only in Portugal, internal and external threats to liberal democracy make it more than ever necessary to reflect on the quality, independence and responsibility of the judiciary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is therefore essential to insist on accountability. Magistrates should not be able to evade it in relation to the judiciary itself and other state powers. Indeed, the independence of the judiciary can often be a euphemism for authority abuse and infiltration in foreign countries\u2019 governance. Ultimately, the judiciary is not an ultimate power nor an end in itself but a means to guarantee the existence and proper functioning of the rule of law based on the balance between executive, judicial and legislative powers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photography: Rossio railway station, Lisbon. Marc Lepr\u00eatre, 2017.<\/sub><\/p>\n\n\n\n Flavia Villanueva, Marta Vicente and Marina Bag\u00e9s, trainee students at the CETC, have participated in this issue of. Diari de les idees<\/em>.<\/sub><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cObviously, I have presented my resignation\u201d. The words uttered by the Portuguese Prime Minister Ant\u00f3nio Costa announcing his resignation echo the response of General Humberto Delgado in May 1958. After a journalist asked him what he would do with Dictator Oliveira Salazar if he were elected president of the Republic, the General replied, \u201cObviously, I\u2019ll sack him\u201d. After almost eight years in office, Antonio Costa has resigned after the Public Prosecutor\u2019s Office went public about inquiries that pointed not only to his inner circle but also to Costa himself. They have been accused of alleged corruption and prevarication linked to\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":65009,"template":"","category_newspaper":[563],"segment":[],"subject":[],"class_list":["post-65050","newspaper","type-newspaper","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category_newspaper-563"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n