The Portuguese Presidency announced the appointment of Luis Montenegro as the Prime Minister following the victory of his center-right Democratic Alliance (AD) party in the parliamentary elections held on March 10.Montenegro, 51 years old, succeeds the leader of the Socialist Party Antonio Costa, who has been in power since 2015.The new Prime Minister said in a statement to reporters after a meeting with President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa that he will present his government formation next Wednesday, which is scheduled to assume its duties on April 2, 2024.Montenegro advanced in the elections with a campaign in which he pledged to boost economic growth by cutting taxes and improving public health services and education.Although Montenegro's AD party was victorious in the election, it won just 79 seats, far short of a majority in the 230-seat parliament. Therefore, it will need to form alliances with other parties to ensure a majority of the votes in the parliament.Even with the backing of the tiny business-friendly Liberal Initiative (IL) party, the AD would still need the support of anti-immigration party Chega to reach a majority of 116 seats in the assembly.Socialist Party leader Antonio Costa resigned early Nov. 2023 and gave up running for another term after his name was mentioned in an influence-peddling investigation.
