It was five minutes past nine on Friday morning when Lusa announced the resignation of the Secretary of State for Defense, Mário Capitão Ferreira: “The Prime Minister presented to the President of the Republic the proposal for the resignation of the Secretary of State for Defense, Mário Captain Ferreira, on his own request,” read the news, with just one paragraph.

About four hours later, when the Secretary of State had already resigned, it became known that he had become a defendant, suspected of crimes of corruption and economic participation in business, in the Perfect Storm trial. Searches had just taken place at the Ministry of Defense by the PJ and the Public Prosecution Service. Acts committed between 2018 and 2021 will be at stake, with the Directorate General of National Defense Resources at the center of the investigation.

In the late afternoon, the PS tried to go on the offensive and take some initiative by putting pressure on the defense minister to start a “general audit” of government procurement in the sector. In an interview with Rádio Renascença, the leader of the PS bank said that “these episodes around the Ministry of Defense are not new”. Eurico Brilhante Dias then recalled the submarine case, which was eventually shelved, as well as other past cases related to the acquisition of military equipment, as well as the episode surrounding the work on the Belém Military Hospital, involving former General Director Alberto Coelho, who was detained and charged. “We have to pay particular attention to defense acquisitions. Episodes are repeated with some regularity. There seems to be a pattern. The armed forces and the Ministry of Defense as a whole need to look. If I were a minister, I would do a general audit to the acquisition processes of the Ministry of National Defense.”

Several opposition parties had already said that the requests they had made to Marco Capitão Ferreira to go to parliament to provide clarification would not fall when the secretary of state resigns. PSD and Chega have formalized requests in this regard. The Liberal Initiative advocated the same.

In recent weeks, the name of Marco Capitão Ferreira – a member of the government since last March – has been embroiled in controversy over a consultancy contract he signed with the Directorate General of National Defense Resources, led at the time by Alberto Coelho – one of those involved in the judicial operation Perfect Storm (now with 20 defendants) and a name related to the cost derailment in the reclassification of the former Military Hospital of Belém. With a validity of 60 days and a value of 50,000 euros plus VAT, the contract was signed on March 25, 2019 and the services were completed four days later, on March 29 of that year. The PS had started to depose him a few days ago, namely by making it possible for him to be heard in the House of Representatives.

15 months, 13 renovations

António Costa’s third reign as prime minister has proved to be a focal point of permanent political instability. There is no memory of so many renovations in such a short time.

2022

30 March

The XXIIIrd constitutional government takes office after the elections of January of that year, which had given an absolute majority to the PS of António Costa.

May 2

First makeover. For health reasons, Sara Guerreiro is leaving the position of Secretary of State for Equality and Migration, depending on the Deputy Minister and Parliamentary Affairs, Ana Catarina Mendes. She is replaced by a deputy from the PS, Isabel Rodrigues.

August 30

Health minister Marta Temido resigns, claiming to no longer have “conditions to remain in office”. The layoffs came during a summer marked by successive problems in National Health Service hospital emergencies, especially in the gynecology-obstetrics specialty, and by strong opposition from doctors. Temido resigned just hours after the death of a pregnant woman who was rushed from Hospital de Santa Maria to Hospital São Francisco Xavier. Temido was replaced by Manuel Pizarro. Secretaries of State António Lacerda Sales and Maria de Fátima Fonseca left, replaced by Ricardo Mestre and Margarida Tavares.

16 September

António Costa is taking advantage of the renovation of Health to have a deputy secretary of state, Miguel Alves, mayor of Caminha until then. Facing legal troubles as a result of running for mayor, Miguel Alves would leave the government about two months later.

December 2

António Mendonça Mendes, hitherto Secretary of State for Tax Affairs, will take office as Deputy Secretary of State to the Prime Minister. Replaces Miguel Alves, who had announced his resignation on November 10 when he heard that he was accused in “Operação Teia”. The hiring of Mendonça Mendes by António Costa requires a complete overhaul of Finance. Minister Fernando Medina puts Nuno Félix in charge of Taxation and Alexandra Reis in the Treasury, where João Nuno Mendes used to be, who now holds the positions of Secretary of State for Finance, a new position created in this reshuffle. On the same date, two leaders of the Ministry of Economy left the government: the Secretaries of State for the Economy, João Mendes, and for Tourism, Rita Marques, who were replaced respectively by Pedro Cilínio and by Nuno Fazenda.

2023

January 4

The news that the new Secretary of State for the Treasury, Alexandra Reis, received a compensation of half a million euros when she left the administration of TAP (months later to the presidency of another public company, NAV, without returning the compensation) leads – a to resign as Secretary of State for Finance on December 27, just 25 days after taking office. The next day, due to the same case, the Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, resigns. These layoffs resulted in the largest rebuilding of this legislature, culminating in an inauguration on January 4.

Pedro Nuno’s ministry has been split in two: João Galamba, until then Secretary of State for Environment and Energy, becomes Minister of Infrastructure; Marina Gonçalves, Secretary of State for Housing, ascends to minister of the same portfolio.

The Minister of Environment and Climate Action, Duarte Cordeiro, also has two secretaries of state instead of one: Ana Fontoura, with Energy and Climate, and Hugo Pires, with Environment. Pedro Sousa Rodrigues is appointed Secretary of State for Finance, replacing Alexandra Reis. And Francisco Frederico replaced Hugo Mendes as Secretary of State for Infrastructure. Maria Fernanda Rodrigues takes up the position of Secretary of State for Housing.

At the same time, the Secretary of State for Agriculture, Rui Martinho, left the executive for health reasons and Carla Alves took his place.

January 5th

It is reported that the new Secretary of State for Agriculture, Carla Alves, has had bank accounts blocked by court order over a case in which her husband, the former mayor of Vinhais, is suspected of corruption. Carla Alves was acquitted on January 9 by the President of the Republic and replaced by Gonçalo Rodrigues on February 15. Carla Alves is acquitted on January 9 by the President of the Republic and replaced by Gonçalo Rodrigues on February 15.

July 7

The Secretary of State for Defense, Mário Capitão Ferreira, resigns. Shortly afterwards it is announced that the Ministry of Justice is conducting a house search at the Ministry of Defence. And then the outgoing Secretary of State was named a defendant in the “Perfect Storm” trial, an investigation (already with 19 defendants) into contracts signed by the Directorate General of Defense Resources. At the close of this edition, the name of the successor was not yet known. With Lusa