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Portuguese prime minister António Costa resigned hours after prosecutors issued arrest warrants and raided government buildings in a corruption investigation that reached his inner circle.
Costa, a Socialist who has led Portugal since 2015, said on Tuesday he would step down after prosecutors revealed the full extent of an investigation into possible crimes of corruption, malfeasance and influence peddling among holders of public office.
Prosecutors said the potential wrongdoing related to several high-profile business ventures, including lithium mining projects that were central to both Portugal’s long-term economic plans and the supply of raw material for Europe’s electric vehicle industry.
They said that in the course of their investigations suspects had invoked the “name and authority” of the prime minister and alleged he had made interventions to “unblock procedures”.
Costa said he had not been aware of the investigation and had a clear conscience.
“But regardless of this, the dignity of the role of prime minister and the trust that the Portuguese people have in institutions are absolutely incompatible with [having] a prime minister who faces suspicions about his integrity,” he added.
Prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Vítor Escária, Costa’s chief of staff and confidant, and said they were making infrastructure minister João Galamba a formal suspect as they carried out a total of 43 raids on government buildings and homes.
Costa’s resignation shifts the onus to Portugal’s president Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, a former leader of the opposition Social Democrats, who accepted Costa’s resignation and must now decide whether to dissolve parliament and call elections or appoint another prime minister. Until then, Costa will remain as a caretaker leader.
The president’s office said Rebelo de Sousa would talk to political party leaders on Wednesday, then speak to the country on Thursday after a meeting of the state council, a group of his advisers.
“I’m not going to run again to be prime minister,” Costa said. “It is a stage of my life that is finished.”
Costa added: “I am available to co-operate with the justice system. I want to say that I am not conscious of having done any illegal act or even any reprehensible act . . . I leave with my head held high and with a clear conscience.”
Among the projects under investigation are a hydrogen production plant and the construction of a data centre, both in the town of Sines. Prosecutors also issued arrest warrants for the mayor of Sines and two directors of a company involved in the data centre.
Rui Rocha, the head of Liberal Initiative, a small right-wing opposition party, said earlier in the day that Portugal was “engulfed in rot” as he called on Costa to resign.
Costa was re-elected with an absolute majority in 2022. But his government has since been dogged by allegations of mismanagement and corruption that have led to several ministers and senior officials leaving office.
One of the most high-profile cases was an irregular severance payment made to a former board member of TAP Air Portugal, a government-owned carrier, which led to the departure of a previous infrastructure minister and the company’s chief executive, among others.
Additional reporting by Carmen Muela in Madrid
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