Portugal Prime
Minister Antonio Costa, who had been in power since 2015, resigned unexpectedly
on Tuesday.
His resignation
came hours after the police raided government buildings as part of an inquiry
into corruption and “influence peddling” and issued an arrest warrant for Costa’s
chief of staff, reported The New York Times.
In his televised
remarks, Costa said he had been “surprised” to learn that he would be the
subject of criminal proceedings and that “no illicit act weighs on my
conscience.”
“However, I
believe that the dignity of the office of the prime minister is not compatible
with any suspicion about your integrity or your good conduct and even less with
the practical suspicion of any criminal act. Therefore, in these circumstances,
obviously, I presented my resignation,” he added.
A judge authorised
the police to search 37 locations, including the office of Costa’s chief of
staff, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Infrastructure, a City
Council office in the town of Sines and several private homes, according to a
statement from the prosecutor general’s office, as per The New York Times.
The investigation
relates to lithium exploration concessions in northern Portugal and a
hydrogen-energy production plant and data centre in Sines, on the country’s
southern coast, the statement said.
Though the
statement did not name Costa, arrest warrants were issued for the head of the
prime minister’s office – identified by local media as Vitor Escaria – along
with the mayor of Sines and three other individuals.
Portugal’s
minister of infrastructure and the head of Portugal’s Environmental Agency were
also named as suspects in the statement.
The prosecutor’s
office said that the investigation showed that the suspects had invoked Costa’s
name and authority “to unblock procedures” in relation to the exploration
concessions.
Portugal has
significant reserves of lithium, an essential ingredient in electric car
batteries and renewable energy.
The leader of the
Socialist Party, Costa, took office in 2015 when he lost an election but ended
up becoming prime minister anyway after persuading two smaller left-wing
parties to back him.
At the time, the
alliance was ridiculed as a “geringonca,” or “contraption,” that his opponents
said would fall apart in no time–but he has been in power ever since.
The Socialists won
an outright majority in snap elections in 2022, giving them enough seats in
Parliament to govern without a coalition. The result was seen as a relief for
Costa, who had been popular for managing the country’s response to the
coronavirus pandemic but also faced questions about his stewardship of the
economy, as per The New York Times.
ANI
