Lisbon - Saba:
Portuguese lawmakers on Tuesday voted no confidence in moderate-right Prime Minister Luis Montenegro, citing a conflict of interest related to a company owned by his wife and children. This development could pave the way for early elections.
As he left parliament, Montenegro said that the government "made every effort, up until the last moment, to avoid early elections."
However, negotiations failed to resolve the dispute between the two parties, and the Socialists voted no confidence in the government alongside the far-right Chega party.
The negotiations centered on Montenegro's cooperation with a parliamentary commission of inquiry, which the Socialists formally requested on Monday.
The Social Democratic Party pledged to cooperate with the committee, initially stipulating that the investigation would not exceed 15 days.
It later set the end of May as the deadline for its completion. Socialist Party leader Pedro Nuno Santos strongly rejected this demand, criticizing the "arrangements" and arguing that the government had no right to set the committee's rules.
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