Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro lost a confidence vote, forcing his government to resign after less than a year in office. The exact vote count wasn’t immediately available, but the speaker of parliament, Jose Pedro Aguiar-Branco, said the centre-right government was defeated. The government, a two-party alliance led by the Social Democratic party (PSD) and in power for less than a year, had just 80 seats in the current 230-seat legislature.
An overwhelming majority of opposition lawmakers had vowed to vote against it. Montenegro’s administration will now operate in a caretaker capacity, handling only essential and urgent matters. President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa is expected to dissolve parliament and call snap elections, which he previously suggested could take place on either May 11 or May 18.
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