Portugal’s president on Thursday called early parliamentary elections for March 10, following the resignation Tuesday of Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa, marred by a corruption scandal.

“I have decided to dissolve the Assembly of the Republic and call elections for March 10,” conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said in a televised speech.

The head of state previously met with members of the Council of State, an advisory body, to discuss the political situation in the country.

The president could choose to dissolve parliament and call early parliamentary elections, or invite a leader to form a government.

Rebelo de Sousa received on Wednesday representatives of parties with representation in parliament, as provided for by the constitution.

The main opposition formations, both left and right, spoke out in favor of holding elections.

However, the Socialists preferred that a new Prime Minister be appointed to lead a government supported by the absolute majority they have in Parliament.

However, the Socialist Party indicated that if it were to go to the polls, it would prefer to do so in March so that there would be time to find a successor to Costa as secretary of the party.

After the last parliamentary elections, in January 2022, the president already warned that the eventual fall of Antonio Costa would lead to the dissolution of parliament, recalls political scientist Paula Espirito Santo from the Higher Institute of Social and Political Sciences.

Costa, one of the few socialists to head a European government, resigned on Tuesday.

The case that concerns him concerns suspicions of “embezzlement, active and passive corruption of political office holders and the exertion of influence” in the awarding of concessions for the extraction of lithium and the production of green hydrogen, according to the Public Prosecution Service, which shows which are being investigated.

After winning with an outright majority in January 2022, Costa saw his popularity erode due to repeated scandals. (JO)