Breaking news. Portugal's parliament rejects motion of confidence and brings down government

The motion of confidence in the government was rejected by Parliament on Tuesday evening, a year and a day after the 2024 legislative elections. PS, Chega, Bloco de Esquerda (BE), PCP, Livre and PAN voted against, bringing down the government. The Liberal Initiative (IL) was the only opposition party to vote in favour, alongside the PSD and CDS-PP parliamentary benches that support the Portuguese executive.

During the debate, Prime Minister Luís Montenegro made several appeals to the Socialist benches to find a solution that wouldn't throw the country into elections, but the PS didn't back down, insisting that the government should withdraw the motion of confidence and leave the clarifications to the parliamentary commission of enquiry (CPI).

The centre-right Social Democrats also submitted a request to suspend the debate so that the Prime Minister could talk privately with the leader of the opposition, but to no avail.

Finally, the government tried to wing it, with the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs presenting a proposal, particularly aimed at the PS, to go ahead with the commission of enquiry, but in a different format. In the next few days, the government would present the necessary documentation and clarifications, with a commitment to present results and conclusions within 15 days.

"It's a constructive proposal and prevents the country from being muddied," argued Pedro Duarte.

The PS leader's response was the opposite, with Pedro Nuno Santos accusing the PSD bench of having initially asked for "a private commission of enquiry" - a reference to the request to suspend the debate so that the Prime Minister and PS could talk. The PS "does not accept negotiations with the government", he emphasised, reaffirming his desire