Prime Minister António Costa of Portugal resigned unexpectedly on Tuesday, hours after the police raided government buildings as part of an inquiry into corruption and “influence peddling” and issued an arrest warrant for Mr. Costa’s chief of staff.
Mr. Costa, who had been in power since 2015, said in televised remarks that he had been “surprised” to learn that he would be the subject of criminal proceedings and that “no illicit act weighs on my conscience.”“However, I believe that the dignity of the office of the prime minister is not compatible with any suspicion about your integrity, your good conduct and even less with the practical suspicion of any criminal act,” he added.
“Therefore, in these circumstances, obviously, I presented my resignation.”A judge authorized police to search of 37 locations — including the office of Mr. Costa’s chief of staff, the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Infrastructure, a City Council office in the town of Sines and several private homes, according to a statement from the prosecutor general’s office.
Persons:
António Costa of Portugal, ”, Costa’s, Costa
Organizations:
Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Infrastructure
Locations:
Sines