Portuguese PM steps down amid corruption probe

Portuguese Prime Minister António Costa submitted his resignation Tuesday after police raided his official residence and the country’s attorney general confirmed he was being investigated under a corruption probe.

During a televised news conference, Costa said he was “surprised” to learn that “a criminal case has already been or will be initiated against me,” and insisted he’d had nothing to do with any “illicit or reprehensible act.”

Costa said the gravity of the charges driving his investigation are “incompatible with the dignity of the office of prime minister,” making it impossible for him to continue in the post.

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will now have to decide whether to dissolve parliament and call new elections, or choose a new prime minister from Costa’s Socialist Party.

The office of the presidency confirmed that party leaders will be summoned to meet Wednesday, with the Council of State, an advisory body to the president, expected to meet Thursday.

Costa said he was willing to remain in office until a successor was named, but clarified he would not put his name forward as a candidate for higher office. His resignation marked “the end of a chapter” in his life, he said.

MNA