Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa called fresh elections after the resignation of Prime Minister António Costa on Tuesday, November 7. Costa, along with some of his ministers and office staff, resigned over alleged corruption charges. He had led the Socialist Party (PS) government in the country from 2015.
Meanwhile, the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Left Bloc (BE) called for a thorough investigation of the alleged corruption charges made against the prime minister and the government. They also called on the government to reject the existing pro-big business governance model in the country.
Five people have been arrested, including the Prime Minister’s Chief of Staff, Vítor Escária, while Infrastructure Minister João Galamba and the president of the Portuguese Environment Agency, Nuno Lacasta, have been named as suspects in the investigations.
The case pertains to the awarding of lithium exploration concessions in Montalegre and Boticas and the green hydrogen and data center projects in Sines. Searches have been conducted at the prime minister’s official residence as well.
On November 9, José Soeiro, a leader of the Left Bloc (BE), stated that “suspicions about the lithium exploration projects in Boticas and Montalegre, hydrogen energy production, and the data center in Sines are not entirely new.”
“In reality, and regardless of what the justice system does or does not find out about malfeasance, influence peddling, or corruption, these large economic projects have been contested for a long time,” Soeira said.
He further added that the existing nexus between big businesses and elements within the government, as reflected in the government’s policy, “is not a left-wing practice or one that the left can validate,” he added.
On November 8, the Secretary General of the Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) Paulo Raimundo said that the recent developments “which include the resignation of the Prime Minister, are the consequence of the weakening of the Government, which is inseparable from its political options, which leaves the main problems of workers and the people without an answer and solution.”
“What the situation of the country demands is the rejection of the right-wing policy that has been pursued by the PS Government, which in everything (serves big capital) … and the implementation of an alternative policy that ensures the increase of salaries and pensions, defending National Health Service (SNS) and access to health, guaranteeing the right to housing, children and parents’ rights, defending sovereignty and development,” he added.
Portugal is said to be the biggest producer of lithium in Europe with 60,000 metric tons of known reserves within the country. Against the backdrop of the ongoing investigations, the residents and local authorities in the Boticas municipality in Northern Portugal have demanded that London-based Savannah Resources be stopped from developing four open-pit mines in their region.
Earlier, the produce from the lithium mines was exclusively reserved for the ceramic industry. Now, the government has decided to produce high-grade lithium for batteries, to divest from Chinese imports, and has given environmental clearance to Lusorecursos to extract in northern Montalegre and Savannah Resources to develop mines in Boticas.
