His Excellency
António Costa
GCIH
Prime Minister of Portugal
Assumed office
8 December 2023
PresidentMarcelo Rebelo de Sousa
In office
26 November 2015 – 8 December 2023
PresidentAníbal Cavaco Silva
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
Preceded byPedro Passos Coelho
Secretary-General of the Socialist Party
In office
22 November 2014 – 7 January 2024
PresidentCarlos César
DeputyAna Catarina Mendes
José Luís Carneiro
João Torres
Preceded byAntónio José Seguro
Succeeded byPedro Nuno Santos
Leader of the Opposition
In office
22 November 2014 – 26 November 2015
Prime MinisterPedro Passos Coelho
Preceded byAntónio José Seguro
Succeeded byPedro Passos Coelho
Mayor of Lisbon
In office
1 August 2007 – 6 April 2015
Preceded byCarmona Rodrigues
Succeeded byFernando Medina
Minister of Internal Administration
In office
12 March 2005 – 17 May 2007
Prime MinisterJosé Sócrates
Preceded byDaniel Sanches
Succeeded byRui Pereira
Minister of Justice
In office
25 October 1999 – 6 April 2002
Prime MinisterAntónio Guterres
Preceded byJosé Vera Jardim
Succeeded byCeleste Cardona
Minister of Parliamentary Affairs
In office
27 November 1997 – 25 October 1999
Prime MinisterAntónio Guterres
Preceded byAntónio Couto dos Santos
Succeeded byLuís Marques Mendes
Member of the Assembly of the Republic
Assumed office
23 October 2015
ConstituencyLisbon
In office
27 November 1997 – 13 June 2004
ConstituencyLisbon
In office
6 October 1991 – 28 October 1995
ConstituencyLisbon
Member of the European Parliament
In office
20 July 2004 – 11 March 2005
ConstituencyPortugal
Personal details
Born
António Luís Santos da Costa

(1961-07-17) 17 July 1961
Lisbon, Portugal
Political partySocialist Party (since 1975)
Spouse
Fernanda Tadeu
​
(m. 1987)​
Children2
Parents
ResidenceSão Bento Mansion
Alma materUniversity of Lisbon
Signature
Websiteportugal.gov.pt/pm
Military service
Allegiance Portugal
Branch/servicePortuguese Army
This article is part of
a series about
António Costa
  • Political career
  • Premiership (2015–present)
  • Elections
  • Family

Media gallery

António Luís Santos da Costa GCIH (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɐ̃ˈtɔnju ˈkɔʃtɐ]; born 17 July 1961)[1] is a Portuguese lawyer and politician who has served as the 119th prime minister of Portugal since 26 November 2015, presiding over the XXI (2015–2019), XXII (2019–2022) and XXIII Constitutional Governments (since 2022). He is demissionary, having resigned on 7 November 2023 following an investigation into a corruption scandal.

Previously, he was Secretary of State for Parliamentary Affairs from 1995 to 1997, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs from 1997 to 1999, Minister of Justice from 1999 to 2002, Minister of Internal Administration from 2005 to 2007, as well as Mayor of Lisbon from 2007 to 2015. He was elected Secretary-General of the Socialist Party in 2014, a post he held until early 2024.[2]

On 7 November 2023, Costa resigned following ongoing searches and arrests involving members of his Socialist government in connection with alleged corruption and malfeasance in handling lithium mining and hydrogen projects in the country.[3][4] The President of Portugal decided to dissolve the parliament and call for early elections to be held in 10 March 2024. Costa will stay as Prime Minister until a new Prime Minister is sworn in following the elections.[5]

Early life and education

Costa was born in 1961 in Lisbon, Portugal, the son of writer Orlando da Costa and journalist Maria Antónia Palla. Orlando da Costa was half Portuguese and half Goan; his father was born in Maputo, Mozambique, to a Goan family.[6][7] In Goa, Costa is affectionately known as Babush, a word in Konkani meaning a young loved one.[8]

Costa graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon in the 1980s, when he first entered politics and was elected as a Socialist deputy to the municipal council. He completed the mandatory military service in 1987[9] and later practiced law briefly from 1988, before entering politics full-time.[10]

Political career

Costa's first role in a Socialist government was as Minister of Parliamentary Affairs under Prime Minister António Guterres between 1997 and 1999. He was Minister of Justice from 1999 to 2002.[10]

Costa was a member of the European Parliament for the Socialist Party (PES), heading the list for the 2004 European elections after the death of top candidate António de Sousa Franco. On 20 July 2004 he was elected as one of the 14 vice-presidents of the European Parliament. He also served on the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs.[11]

Costa resigned as an MEP on 11 March 2005 to become Minister of State and Internal Administration in the government of José Sócrates following the 2005 national elections.[12]

Mayor of Lisbon

António Costa resigned all government offices in May 2007 to become his party's candidate for the municipality of Lisbon, Portugal's capital city. He was elected as Lisbon's mayor on 15 July 2007 and reelected in 2009 and 2013, with a bigger majority each time. In April 2015 he resigned his duties as a mayor, while he was already the secretary general of the Socialist Party and the party's candidate for Prime Minister, so that he could prepare his campaign for the October 2015 general elections.[13]

Candidate for prime minister

In September 2014, the Socialist Party chose Costa as its candidate to be prime minister of Portugal in the 2015 national elections. In a ballot to select the party's candidate, gaining nearly 70 percent of the votes, he defeated party leader António José Seguro, who announced his resignation after the result.[14] By April 2015, he stepped down as mayor to focus on his campaign.[15]

During the campaign, Costa pledged to ease back on austerity and give more disposable income back to households.[16] He proposed to boost incomes, hiring and growth in order to cut the budget deficits while scrapping austerity measures and cutting taxes for the middle and lower classes, asserting that would still allow deficits to reduce in line with the Euro convergence criteria.[17] Also, he pledged to roll back a hugely unpopular hike in value added tax on restaurants and reinstate some benefits for civil servants.[15]

Prime Minister of Portugal

First term (2015–2019)

On 4 October 2015, the conservative Portugal Ahead coalition that had ruled the country since 2011 came first in the elections winning 38.6% of the vote, while the Socialist Party (PS) came second with 32.3%. Passos Coelho was reappointed Prime Minister the following days, but António Costa formed an alliance with the other parties on the left (the Left Bloc, the Portuguese Communist Party and the Ecologist Party "The Greens"), which altogether constituted a majority in Parliament, and toppled the government on 10 November (the People–Animals–Nature party also voted in favour of the motion of rejection presented by the left alliance). After toppling the conservative government, Costa was chosen as the new prime minister of Portugal by President Cavaco Silva on 24 November and assumed office on 26 November.[13][18]

By March 2017, polls put support for Costa's Socialists at 42 percent, up 10 points from their share of the vote in the 2015 election and close to a level that would give them a majority in parliament were the country to vote again.[19] In the 2017 local elections, Costa further consolidated power in Portugal as his party captured a record haul of 158 town halls out of the country's 308 cities and towns; nationwide, the Socialists’ vote share topped 38 percent, again up from their result in the 2015 parliamentary election.[20]

During his tenure, Portugal experienced its deadliest wildfires ever, firstly in Pedrogão Grande in June 2017 (65 dead) and later across the country in October 2017 (41 dead).[21] In October 2017, the opposition People's Party (CDS) launched a motion of no-confidence in Costa's government over its failure to prevent the loss of human lives in the lethal Iberian wildfires, the second such disaster in four months; the motion was largely symbolic as the minority Socialist government continued to be backed in parliament by two left-wing parties.[22]

In April 2018, Reuters reported that, "Since coming to power, Costa's government has managed to combine fiscal discipline with measures to support growth, while reversing most of the austerity policies imposed by the previous center-right administration during the 2010–13 debt crisis.[23]

Costa with Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez in Lisbon, 2 July 2018.
Costa meets with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Lisbon, Portugal on 5 December 2019.

In early 2019, Costa's government survived another opposition motion of no confidence lodged over a wave of public sector strikes.[24] Ahead of the 2019 national elections, Costa ruled out a coalition government with the hard left if, as expected, his governing party won the election but fell shy of a parliamentary majority. Instead, he indicated he favored a continuation of the current pact in parliament with the Communists and/or the Left Bloc – rather than any formal coalition in which they would have government ministers.[25]

Second term (2019–2022)

Third term (2022–present)

Costa with Bulgarian President Rumen Radev with in the European Council Summit in Brussels, 22 October 2021.
Costa with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on 21 May 2022.
Costa with Brazilian President Luis Inácio Lula da Silva on 24 April 2023.

Costa was re-elected in the 2022 Portuguese legislative election, with the PS winning 120 seats, up from 108 seats, in a surprise outright majority in the Assembly. In the weeks leading up to the election, polling suggested that Costa and the Socialist party would retain their status as the largest party in the Assembly but would need the help of other parties to achieve a majority. In his victory speech, Costa thanked voters for giving him "an increased responsibility" and promising to govern "with and for all Portuguese".[26] This gave him the mandate to form the XXIII Constitutional Government of Portugal.[27]

Costa’s third term was marred by a wave of scandals and resignations that affected his popularity negatively in the opinion polls.[28] 11 ministers and secretaries of state left their roles, over allegations of corruption and past misconduct or questionable practices.[29] The most significant scandal was the TAP scandal where Costa’s government has been involved. Infrastructure Minister Pedro Nuno Santos submitted his resignation in December 2022, following a public backlash over a hefty severance pay a secretary of state received from state-owned TAP, which fell under his remit.[30]

Costa replaced Santos with João Galamba who submitted his resignation in May 2023 as the TAP scandal widened. Opposition parties said that Galamba concealed from parliament that he had proposed that then TAP CEO Christine Ourmières-Widener meet Socialist lawmakers to prepare for a parliamentary hearing about her severance package. Widener was later fired after an official inspection found that the severance was illegal. Galamba initially said the preparatory meeting was TAP's idea, but acknowledged it was he who had told Widener that, if she wanted, she could attend the meeting where his advisors would also be present.[31]

Galamba added that one of his advisors, who took notes on what was discussed at the meeting, had been fired, and taken a laptop with confidential information with him. The laptop was later recovered by the national intelligence service SIS, leading to accusations from the opposition of a government overreach since such cases were a police matter. Costa denied that neither he nor any member of the government had given orders to SIS to recover the laptop.[31] He added that he would reject the resignation of Galamba, keeping him in the job against president Marcelo Rebelo De Sousa's and the opposition’s request.[32] President Rebelo de Sousa responded by issuing a warning that Costa's government needed to work on preserving its credibility, while refraining from using his power to dissolve parliament.[33]

Resignation

Costa announcing his resignation, on 7 November 2023

On 7 November 2023, Portuguese prosecutors detained Costa's chief of staff Vítor Escária and named João Galamba a formal suspect[34] in an investigation into alleged corruption in lithium mining, green hydrogen production and a data centre deals. Over 40 searches were carried out, some of which in government and local government buildings, including Escária's office, the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Action.[35][36] Costa is also under suspicion of enabling the lithium and green hydrogen deals, and will be inquired by the Supreme Court of Justice.[37]

In a televised statement in the afternoon, Costa announced his resignation from the position of prime minister, saying that "the dignity of the functions of prime minister is not compatible with any suspicion about his integrity, his good conduct and even less with the suspicion of the practice of any criminal act".[3]

The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, accepted Costa's resignation on the same day.[38] However, the resignation of Costa and his government was only made official on 8 December, in order to have the State Budget for 2024 approved. The Assembly of the Republic will also be dissolved. The president scheduled early elections to be held on 10 March 2024. Costa's government will remain in office in a caretaker capacity until a new government is sworn in following the elections.[5][39]

Personal life

In 1987, Costa married Fernanda Maria Gonçalves Tadeu, a teacher.[10] The couple have a son and a daughter. Costa also holds an Overseas Citizenship of India.[40]

Costa is a supporter of the football club S.L. Benfica,[41] and was a frequent spectator at their matches while mayor of Lisbon. He also accompanied Benfica to both UEFA Europa League finals, in 2013 and 2014.

Honours

National honours

Foreign honours

Other awards

References

  1. ↑ "Leadership". Party of European Socialists. Archived from the original on 18 July 2020. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  2. ↑ António Costa's Biography on the Portuguese Government's official webpage Archived 8 December 2015 at the Wayback Machine.
  3. 1 2 "Portugal's PM Costa resigns over corruption investigation". Reuters. 7 November 2023. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  4. ↑ "Face a buscas e detenções, Marcelo recebeu Costa a pedido deste em Belém". Notícias ao Minuto (in Portuguese). 7 November 2023. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  5. 1 2 "Marcelo dissolve Parlamento. António Costa no Governo até às próximas eleições a 10 de março". Correio da Manhã (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 16 November 2023. Retrieved 16 November 2023.
  6. ↑ Then Came A Gandhi Archived 12 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine, outlookindia.com, retrieved 10 September 2015
  7. ↑ "'Proud of my roots in Goa': Portugal PM Antonio Costa's Q&A with HT". Hindustan Times. 6 January 2017. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
  8. ↑ "Portugal PM Antonio Costa: Goan connection of 'Gandhi of Lisbon' who won polls again". WION. Archived from the original on 13 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  9. ↑ "António Costa" (PDF). Jornal de Campanha — Socialist Party. August 2015. p. 3. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 April 2019. Retrieved 10 April 2019.
  10. 1 2 3 Axel Bugge (4 October 2015), Portuguese Socialist leader Costa candidate for PM Archived 16 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
  11. ↑ "6th parliamentary term - António COSTA - MEPs - European Parliament". European Parliament. Archived from the original on 29 May 2023.
  12. ↑ Mais de um terço do Executivo de Costa esteve nos governos de Sócrates (Jornal Económico) https://jornaleconomico.sapo.pt/noticias/mais-de-um-terco-do-executivo-de-costa-esteve-nos-governos-de-socrates-722921 Archived 3 January 2022 at the Wayback Machine
  13. 1 2 Agence France-Presse (25 November 2015), Portugal gets Antonio Costa as new PM after election winner only lasted 11 days Archived 24 December 2016 at the Wayback Machine The Guardian.
  14. ↑ Andrei Khalip (28 September 2014), Portugal opposition Socialists choose mayor of Lisbon as candidate for PM in next year's election Archived 25 November 2015 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
  15. 1 2 Axel Bugge (1 April 2015), Lisbon Socialist mayor steps down to campaign for Portugal PM Archived 4 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
  16. ↑ Axel Bugge (18 September 2015), Portugal election race still in dead heat, no majority win: poll Archived 4 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
  17. ↑ Andrei Khalip (17 September 2015), Portuguese PM and Socialist opponent clash over austerity as election nears Archived 17 October 2015 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
  18. ↑ Patricia Kowsmann and Matt Moffett (24 November 2015). "Socialist Leader António Costa Is Named as Portugal's Prime Minister". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 24 November 2015. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  19. ↑ Axel Bugge (31 March 2017), As Europe left struggles, Portugal's alliance wins over voters and Brussels Archived 21 June 2017 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
  20. ↑ Paul Ames (2 October 2017), Portugal’s Socialists toast ‘biggest ever’ election win Archived 3 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine Politico Europe.
  21. ↑ "Portugal and Spain wildfires: Dozens dead and injured". BBC News. 16 October 2017. Archived from the original on 16 October 2017. Retrieved 16 October 2017.
  22. ↑ Axel Bugge and Andrei Khalip (17 October 2017), Portugal's government faces no-confidence vote over forest fires Archived 27 December 2017 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
  23. ↑ Andrei Khalip (13 April 2018), Portugal government targets budget surplus in 2020, irks allies Archived 15 April 2018 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
  24. ↑ Andrei Khalip and Mark Heinrich (20 February 2019), Portuguese PM withstands no confidence motion in parliament Archived 26 February 2019 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
  25. ↑ Andrei Khalip (29 August 2019), Portugal PM rules out coalition government after October election Archived 4 September 2019 at the Wayback Machine Reuters.
  26. ↑ "Portugal elections explained". www.theportugalnews.com. Archived from the original on 22 January 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2022.
  27. ↑ "Portugal election: Socialists win unexpected majority". BBC News. 31 January 2022. Archived from the original on 5 February 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  28. ↑ "PSD volta a ficar à frente do PS em nova sondagem – Observador". observador.pt. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  29. ↑ Demony, Catarina (5 January 2023). "Another Portuguese government member quits in latest hiring scandal". Reuters. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  30. ↑ "Portugal's infrastructure minister quits over TAP controversy". Reuters. 29 December 2022. Archived from the original on 18 February 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  31. 1 2 Goncalves, Sergio; Demony, Catarina; Demony, Catarina (2 May 2023). "Portuguese minister resigns in growing airline scandal, PM keeps him in job". Reuters. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  32. ↑ Goncalves, Sergio; Khalip, Andrei (3 May 2023). "Portugal risks political crisis amid rift between prime minister and president". Reuters. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  33. ↑ Goncalves, Sergio; Khalip, Andrei (4 May 2023). "Portuguese president warns PM over credibility, avoids crisis". Reuters. Archived from the original on 6 June 2023. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  34. ↑ Portugal, Rádio e Televisão de (7 November 2023). "João Galamba foi constituído arguido pelo Ministério Público". João Galamba foi constituído arguido pelo Ministério Público (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  35. ↑ Demony, Catarina; Rua, Patricia Vicente; Goncalves, Sergio; Demony, Catarina (7 November 2023). "Portuguese PM to address lithium probe as minister named suspect in graft case". Reuters. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  36. ↑ "Buscas e detenções | Departamento Central de Investigação e Ação Penal". dciap.ministeriopublico.pt (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 8 November 2023.
  37. ↑ "Governo investigado: António Costa é suspeito e vai ser alvo de inquérito pelo Supremo Tribunal de Justiça". Expresso (in Portuguese). 7 November 2023. Archived from the original on 7 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  38. ↑ "Marcelo aceitou a demissão de Costa e fala ao país na quinta-feira". Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 1 December 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  39. ↑ "Presidente da República decreta demissão do Governo". Presidência da República Portuguesa (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 8 December 2023. Retrieved 8 December 2023.
  40. ↑ "PM Narendra Modi presents OCI card to Portugal's Indian-origin PM Antonio Costa". 24 June 2017. Archived from the original on 8 July 2022. Retrieved 8 July 2022.
  41. ↑ "António Costa espera dérbi com "golos e espetáculo"". 28 August 2013. Archived from the original on 18 September 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2018.
  42. ↑ "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens Portuguesas". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Archived from the original on 17 August 2013. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  43. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Cidadãos Nacionais Agraciados com Ordens Estrangeiras". Página Oficial das Ordens Honoríficas Portuguesas. Archived from the original on 15 July 2017. Retrieved 31 July 2017.
  44. ↑ Presidencia del Gobierno: "Real Decreto 577/2016, de 25 de noviembre, por el que se concede la Gran Cruz de la Real y Distinguida Orden Española de Carlos III al Excelentísimo Señor Antonio Luis Santos da Costa, Primer Ministro de la República Portuguesa" (PDF). Boletín Oficial del Estado (in Spanish) (286): 82949. 26 November 2016. ISSN 0212-033X. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 March 2017. Retrieved 5 March 2017.
  45. ↑ Deepika, K.C. (10 January 2017). "Awarding PIOs in recognition of their services". The Hindu. ISSN 0971-751X. Archived from the original on 9 May 2021. Retrieved 26 March 2021.
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