Portugal’s government collapsed on 11 March 2025 after Prime Minister Luís Montenegro, leader of the PSD (member of the European People’s Party) lost a confidence vote in parliament, following allegations of conflicts of interest concerning his consultancy firm Spinumviva. He has still not provided sufficient information on his ties with corporate clients he kept while in office.
Vula Tsetsi, co-chair of the European Green Party, stated: “The Liberal Initiative, an opposition party that once campaigned on transparency and fighting corruption, now seems to be hypocritically turning a blind eye to Prime Minister Montenegro’s blatant conflicts of interest, and aim for a possible coalition government. When Montenegro’s conservative right PSD makes a coalition with the ALDE-associated Liberal Initiative of Rui Rocha, there is a real risk of disinvestment in critical public services and decreased social cohesion.”
Liberal Initiative has already come forward with proposals for a Trump-inspired department of governmental efficiency. The party is intent on privatising infrastructure and essential services such as the National Health Service, the national TV broadcaster, as well as reducing housing and tax regulations in the name of individual liberty. They caved to the far right and proposed increasing the minimum residence duration needed to obtain the Portuguese nationality.
EGP co-chair Ciarán Cuffe added: “The citizens of Portugal will have a choice. It will either be a coalition of Montenegro’s conservatives and Rocha’s liberals, with a deregulation agenda that will ultimately undermine Portugal’s essential investments in healthcare, the welfare state, housing, and climate action. Or it will be a green future with strengthened welfare policies that provide people with security, means and free time. The solutions to the current housing crisis and climate breakdown must be based on socially just alternatives that leverage public investment and community, rather than individualistic, profit-oriented solutions from unregulated markets.”
