Portugal’s president is preparing to dissolve parliament and order early elections.
The country was plunged into a political crisis when MPs rejected the 2022 state budget proposed by Prime Minister António Costa.
The decision brought an end to the minority Socialist (PS) government alliance, which had ruled Portugal since 2015.
It was the first time a budget law has been rejected in Portugal since the country became a democracy in 1974.
The fallout is set to prompt President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to announce he is dissolving parliament.
The state council gave “their favourable opinion, by a majority”, to Rebelo de Sousa’s proposal to dissolve Parliament on Wednesday, according to a presidency statement.
The next parliamentary elections were not due until autumn 2023, but they will now be held in January or February next year.
Costa has refused to resign as interim prime minister and promised to lead the Socialists’ campaign for a “reinforced, stable and lasting majority”. The centre-left PS held only 108 seats in Portugal’s 230-seat parliament.
Costa’s party triumphed overall in last month’s municipal elections but polled lower than in 2017 and suffered a surprise defeat in the capital Lisbon.
Meanwhile, the opposition Social Democratic Party is set to hold an internal leadership election in December.
