Left-wing opposition topples Portugal government
LISBON: A left-wing opposition alliance in Portugal toppled the country’s minority conservative government in a parliamentary vote on Tuesday, less than two weeks after it was sworn in. The newly-formed bloc comprising the Socialist Party, Communists and their allies voted for a motion rejecting the government’s program, in a move likely to spook investors and markets as the country still recovers from an economic crisis. The text was passed by 123 votes in favor and 107 against. The move brings an automatic end to the government of Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho, whose centre-right coalition won the most votes in last month’s elections but lost the absolute majority it had enjoyed since 2011.
His second government becomes the shortest-lived since Portugal returned to democracy in 1974. “It is possible to turn the page of austerity in the euro-zone,” the head of the Socialist Party, Antonio Costa, 54, said after the vote. Together, the Socialists, the Communists and the Left Bloc-which is close to Greece’s ruling Syriza party-hold a majority in parliament, 122 seats out of 230. Their alliance is the first of its kind since the birth of a democratic Portugal in 1974, and had seemed unimaginable just weeks ago due to differences between the various leftist groups. It is the first time that the three parties have put aside their differences and agreed to work together to form a government.
‘A radical choice’
The parties want to reverse some cutbacks and reforms demanded by creditors following Portugal’s 78-billion-euro ($87-billion) bailout. The full details of the pact between the left-wing parties are not yet public, but their plans include giving back government workers pay that was cut and restoring four public holidays that were scrapped to boost productivity.
Passos Coelho, 51, accused the newlyformed bloc ahead of the vote of wanting to push through a “short-term and unrealistic program” which “would be viewed as a threat” to the country’s economic recovery. “The Socialist Party has made a radical choice, preferring to team up with minorities which they have always fought,” he added after the vote. President Anibal Cavaco Silva will now have to decide who will lead the country. Reluctant to hand the reins to a government backed by the far-left, he could decide to leave fellow conservative Passos Coelho, whom he will meet on Wednesday, at the helm until a new election is held-by June at the latest. However analyst Colin Bermingham of the France-based BNP Paribas multinational bank said that the Portuguese president might “need to give the left the opportunity to govern.” Costa has been seeking to reassure investors and Portugal’s euro-zone partners that a Socialistled government would not be headed for a Greece-style clash with creditors. He has repeatedly said that any Socialist-led government would respect Portugal’s international commitments. Unlike in Greece, where the far-left Syriza party leads the government, Portugal’s Communists and the Left Bloc would play a supporting role to the traditionally mainstream PS.
‘Balancing act’
“A PS government will not seek confrontation with the European Union. It will try to convince Brussels to not adopt a hard line in case there is a budget slippage,” political scientist Antonio Costa Pinto said.“A Socialist Party government will be obliged to respect commitments between Portugal and Brussels.” But investors appeared nervous, with Lisbon’s stock exchange closed down 0.30 percent on Tuesday before the result of the vote was known, after closing down 4.05 percent on Monday. Yields on the country’s benchmark 10-year bond rose 15 basis points to 2.84 percent, compared to 2.29 percent before the elections.
“Socialist leader Antonio Costa will have a difficult balancing act on his hands if he is appointed prime minister,” BNP Paribas’s Bermingham said, adding that there would likely be a continued “uncertainty” for at least two weeks before a new government is in office. The divisions inside parliament were reflected in the streets outside. About 5,000 left-wing supporters rallied outside of the assembly in favor of a new Socialist-led government while about 2,000 conservative voter protested against the move to topple the government. “We’ve been dreaming of a union of the left since the April 25, 1974 revolution,” said Fatima Carvalho, 66. Isabel Norton de Matos, a 59-year-old interpreter, said she hoped that “with Antonio Costa, Portugal does not become a new Greece.”—AFP
Nigeria yesterday finally got a new government after more than five months of waiting, as 36 ministers and junior ministers swore the oath of allegiance and were assigned formal roles. The ceremony at President Muhammadu Buhari’s official residence in the capital, Abuja, brought to an end 166 days in which he has effectively been in sole charge of Africa’s leading economy. Buhari described the appointments as a “milestone” and indicated it had taken so long to decide because of the need to put “round pegs in round holes” with the right people for the job.
“I have been conscious of the need not to repeat the mistakes of the past,” he said, adding the ministers had been chosen on the basis of their abilities and performance. As expected, Buhari, who has been seeking to streamline government and cut endemic corruption, slashed the number of ministries from 36 to 24, making some nominees only junior ministers. He confirmed he would take charge of the oil portfolio. The head of the state-run Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Ibe Kachikwu, will be his deputy and responsible for overseeing the day-to-day running of the sector.
Kemi Adeosun, a former investment banker and accountant who recently served as finance commissioner in the southwestern state of Ogun, was appointed finance minister. She faces a battle to get Nigeria’s crude-dependent economy back on track, with government revenues hit hard since last year by the global slump in oil prices. GDP growth is currently running at just 2.35 percent, while inflation is creeping towards 10 percent and the naira currency weak. Buhari is keen to diversify the economy of Africa’s number one oil producer, boosting investment in agriculture, manufacturing and mining.
Since taking office on May 29, he has given priority to the fight against Boko Haram, whose Islamist insurgency has left at least 17,000 dead and made more than 2.5 homeless since 2009. The defense portfolio was handed to retired Brigadier-General Muhammad Mansur Dan-Ali, who was preferred to former army chief Abdulrahman Dambazau, who was appointed interior minister. Intellectual property lawyer Geoffrey Onyeama was appointed foreign minister. Former Lagos state governor Babatunde Fashola was handed power, works and housing while the former Rivers state governor Rotimi Amaechi got transport. Fashola and Amaechi are both political heavyweights in Buhari’s governing All Progressives Congress (APC) party. The latter served as Buhari’s campaign manager during elections in March.
Clearer direction
The lack of ministers since May left Nigeria in political limbo and created uncertainty in the business world. “Political stasis has bred economic stasis, through cargoes stranded at ports, an uncertain investment climate and delayed spending decisions,” Michael Famoroti, editorin-chief of Nigeria business, economy and finance analysts Stears, told AFP. “Too many parts of the economy have stalled as economic agents await government clarity,” he said in an email. But with the new ministerial line-up announced, it is hoped a clearer picture should emerge of the government’s direction. “The APC made a lot of promises and it needs to deliver on some of the more concrete elements,” said Dawn Dimowo, of political consultancy the Africa Practice. “So it is high time the ministers come on board; they are the ones to translate most of those promises into tangible policies and lead on their implementation.”
Buhari had been running Nigeria with just permanent secretaries (senior civil servants) at government ministries, opening the former military ruler up to opposition charges of autocracy. The new cabinet, containing just seven women, is made up of technocrats and political appointees from each of Nigeria’s 36 states. Last weekend, lawyer Aisha Alhassan, who was appointed minister for women, won a challenge at an election tribunal to her defeat at governorship polls in April. She has indicated she will take up the post in eastern Taraba state, becoming Nigeria’s first female state governor in the country’s 55-year independent history. —AFP