National
Portugal: Prime Minister, António Costa, resigns over suspicions of corruption
The Prime Minister of Portugal, António Costa, presented his resignation this afternoon to the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, following suspicions of corruption, disclosed this morning by the Public. According to the daily newspaper, the PSP carried out searches at António Costa's official residence and at the Ministries of Environment and Infrastructure, because of business related to lithium and hydrogen.
Ministers Duarte Cordeiro (Environment and Climate Transition), João Galamba (Infrastructure) and the former Minister of the Environment, João Pedro Matos Fernandes, were named defendants. Five people have been detained so far: the prime minister's chief of staff, Vítor Escária, a consultant close to Costa, Diogo Lacerda Machado, the mayor of Sines, the socialist Nuno Mascarenhas and another businessman.
António Costa could not resist the suspicions of corruption, which he guaranteed “never heard of”, but stated that this is not compatible with the functions of prime minister, reports the SIC News. At issue is a process that investigates the hydrogen and lithium businesses. The prime minister added that he does not intend to run again for the government of Portugal.
It is not yet known what impact the fall of the government, with an absolute socialist majority, will have on the future of the country, in general, and on the cannabis situation, in particular. The Socialist Party (PS) had announced recently the intention to set up a working group to debate and deepen reflection around the regulation of the use of cannabis for non-medical purposes, by the leader of the PS parliamentary group, Eurico Brilhante Dias, something that will certainly no longer be a priority , at least at this stage.
The Socialist Party had also revealed that it would present its proposal to legalize cannabis next year, something that now, in the midst of a political crisis, is even more uncertain and distant.
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[Disclaimer: Please note that this text was originally written in Portuguese and is translated into English and other languages using an automatic translator. Some words may differ from the original and typos or errors may occur in other languages.]____________________________________________________________________________________________________
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With a degree in Journalism from the University of Coimbra, Laura Ramos has a postgraduate degree in Photography and has been a Journalist since 1998. Winner of the Business of Cannabis Awards in the category "Journalist of the Year 2024", Laura was a correspondent for Jornal de Notícias in Rome, Italy, and Press Officer in the Office of the Minister of Education of the 2018st Portuguese Government. She has an international certification in Permaculture (PDC) and created the street-art photography archive “What does Lisbon say?” @saywhatlisbon. Co-founder and Editor of CannaReporter® and coordinator of PTMC - Portugal Medical Cannabis, Laura made the documentary “Pacientes” in XNUMX and was part of the steering group of the first Postgraduate Course in GxP's for Medicinal Cannabis in Portugal, in partnership with the Military Laboratory and the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Lisbon.
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