Home>News Center>World
         
 

Portuguese gov't resigns ahead of elections
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-12-12 10:48

The Portuguese government resigned on Saturday to avoid turf battles with President Jorge Sampaio in the run-up to snap elections in February.

Center-right Prime Minister Pedro Santana Lopes, in office less than five months, said his government would run the Iberian country in a caretaker status until the Feb. 20 vote.

Santana Lopes' Social Democrats could face a rout in the elections since they badly trail the opposition Socialists in opinion polls.

"We are defining our status. We are not running, we're staying at our post," the prime minister, flanked by his cabinet, said in a televised address.

Santana Lopes said his resignation along with his cabinet was a reaction to Sampaio's warning on Friday in scheduling the snap elections that the government would be "politically limited" ahead of the polls.

"It would be bad if the government were to hear the president's words and keep the same attitude," said Santana Lopes, who defended his government's performance.

He will meet Sampaio on Monday to formalize the resignations. Santana Lopes said he had canceled a summit meeting with French leaders set for Monday in France.

Sampaio dissolved parliament on Friday and set elections, saying instability in Santana Lopes' government threatened to damage Portugal, Western Europe's poorest country.

Santana Lopes's brief tenure was marked by a minister's resignation, slumping polls, a negative outlook from the Standard & Poor's credit rating agency, and allegations of government interference with the media.

Santana Lopes, then number two in the Social Democrats, took over as prime minister when Jose Manuel Barroso left Portuguese politics in July to head the European Commission.

Sampaio had agreed to Santana Lopes taking over without elections. However, he warned that Santana Lopes would be under scrutiny to follow Barroso's policies.

Instead, Santana Lopes loosened an austerity program that Barroso had designed to close a budget gap that breached euro currency zone limits in 2001.

Political analyst Antonio Jose Teixeira said caretaker status would clarify the boundaries within which Santana Lopes could act and reduced areas of potential conflict with Sampaio.

"With this done, Santana Lopes clearly has a status of caretaker, it's more self-limited, more defined during a time period until elections held," he told private TSF radio.

February's elections will usher in Portugal's fourth government since late 2001. Polls had been scheduled for 2006.



 
  Today's Top News     Top World News
 

Fatal results of fuel fury in China

 

   
 

Doctor: Yushchenko poisoned with dioxin

 

   
 

Road accidents kill 96,870 this year

 

   
 

Guangdong's fourth nuke plant in pipeline

 

   
 

Nephew suggests Arafat's death unnatural

 

   
 

China, Thailand work out new anti-AIDS drug

 

   
  Doctor: Yushchenko poisoned with dioxin
   
  Insurgents try to derail Iraqi elections
   
  Bush seeks security chief As Kerik exits
   
  Likud, Labour begin coalition talks
   
  Portuguese gov't resigns ahead of elections
   
  Negotiators open Darfur peace talks
   
 
  Go to Another Section  
 
 
  Story Tools  
   
  News Talk  
  Are the Republicans exploiting the memory of 9/11?  
Advertisement
         
主站蜘蛛池模板: sao浪美人的激爱之路| 亚洲香蕉久久一区二区三区四区| 97049.com| 无码人妻少妇久久中文字幕| 亚洲成色在线综合网站| 精品欧洲男同同志videos| 国产无av码在线观看| avtt2015天堂网| 攵女yin乱合集小丹| 亚洲av无码精品色午夜 | 成人午夜福利视频| 五月综合色婷婷在线观看| 牛牛影院毛片大全免费看| 国产人妖cd网站| 永久黄色免费网站| 女人被男人躁到呻吟的| 久久久久国产精品免费看| 欧美人与动人物乱大交| 人妻少妇乱子伦无码专区| 色偷偷亚洲第一综合网| 国产成人高清视频| 91网站在线看| 嫩草影院免费观看| 久久久一本精品99久久精品66| 欧美丝袜一区二区三区| 亚洲高清视频在线播放| 美女扒开胸露出奶乳免费视频| 国产成人艳妇aa视频在线| 91av福利视频| 女人18毛片免费观看| 中文字幕欧美在线| 日韩亚洲翔田千里在线| 亚洲免费网站观看视频| 波多野结衣中文字幕在线视频| 加勒比黑人在线| 色宅男午夜电影在线观看| 国产成人精品午夜二三区波多野 | 91啦中文成人| 天天综合天天做| 东京热一精品无码av| 日本二区免费一片黄2019|