Portugal's Prime Minister António Costa resigned yesterday after police raided his official residence and confirmed his implication in a corruption probe over lithium mines and a green-hydrogen project.
With "the country's leadership now in flux" said Politico, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa must exercise his constitutional right to "either appoint a new prime minister, or dissolve parliament, sparking an election".
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"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.
Paulo Otero, a law professor at the University of Lisbon, called it the gravest moment of institutional discredit since the country became a democracy in 1976.
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