the political crisis continues, the governor of the Central Bank under fire from criticism

2023-11-13 16:09:00

The Portuguese executive is in the spotlight, following the surprise resignation of Prime Minister Antonio Costa. As a reminder, the latter left office on November 7, due to his involvement in a corruption investigation targeting members of his cabinet. The governor of the Bank of Portugal, Mario Centeno, is now the target of criticism. In an interview with Financial Times published on Sunday, Mario Centeno claimed to have been invited “ by the president and the prime minister to consider the possibility of leading the government », replacing Antonio Costa.

How Portugal became the good student of the European Union

This Monday, November 13, the Bank of Portugal denies this. “ Governor Mario Centeno confirms that he was not invited by the President of the Republic to head the government », She said in a press release, in reaction to a formal denial from the head of state, the conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. This invitation was addressed to the governor only by the Prime Minister following “ conversations between the Prime Minister and the President », Specified the Bank of Portugal.

Opposition calls on governor to resign

Finally, the head of state refused to replace Antonio Costa, whose socialist party wanted to remain in power thanks to the absolute majority obtained in the January 2022 elections, and decided to call early legislative elections for March 10.

But the governor of the Bank of Portugal, who was Antonia Costa’s Minister of Finance between 2015 and 2020, but also president of the Eurogroup from 2018 to 2020, was now faced with criticism from the right-wing opposition.

Mario Centeno « will have to assess its impartiality “, observed Luis Montenegro, president of the main opposition party, the Social Democratic Party (PSD, center right), in particular, suggesting that the governor of the central bank should resign.

« Il is not able to continue at the Bank of Portugal “, for his part clearly stated the president of the Liberals, Rui Rocha.

According to local media, the Bank of Portugal’s ethics committee is due to meet on Monday to assess Mario Centeno’s situation.

A scandal that shakes the government

The political reaction is strong. And for good reason, the scandal affecting the Portuguese government is significant. The affair which caught up with the Portuguese Prime Minister concerns, according to the prosecution, suspicions of “ embezzlement, active and passive corruption of political office holders and influence peddling » concerning the allocation of lithium exploration and hydrogen production licenses.

During the investigation, “ the name and authority of the Prime Minister were also cited by the suspects », added the public prosecutor in a press release. Suspected of having intervened himself “ to unblock procedures » in the context of this affair, Antonio Costa will “ the subject of an investigation » autonomous, always according to the prosecution. During his speech to the press, Antonio Costa however assured that he was “ surprised » by opening this investigation.

But this is not a first for the head of government. After his large electoral victory on January 30, 2022, which gave him an absolute majority supposed to guarantee the stability of his government, Antonio Costa saw his popularity erode due to repeated scandals. One of the most notable is “TAPgate”, named following the public airline which forced more than a dozen ministers and secretaries of state to leave their posts because of this affair. This scandal was revealed almost a year ago following revelations regarding the payment of a severance payment of 500,000 euros to a TAP administrator, who then landed a few months later as Secretary of State for Treasure.

For the opposition, distrust of the government is therefore in order and the latter now accuses Mario Centeno of being too close to the executive in place.

(With AFP)