Paulo Portas is standing down from the Presidency of the much diminished CDS-PP party.
The politician, whose style has often be called slippery, arrogant and self-important, leaves power with the Ferrostaal submarine affair staining his good character and the suspicion that he conveniently ignored the corruption surrounding his Golden Visa programme that saw 11 people arrested in Operation Labyrinth.
It is not yet clear if Portas is leaving politics completely as he remains an MP, for the time being anyway.
There are three candidates in the running to replace Portas, Assunção Cristas the former Agriculture minister, Pedro Mota Soares the former Minister for Social Security and the vice president of the CDS Nuno Melo, one of whom should be elected to the presidency of the party next Spring.
Paulo Portas is still only 53 years old and is Portugal's longest serving party leader having been at the head of the CDS-PP for 18 years, with an interval of two years between 2005 and 2007. He now wants to “give way to the new generation."
"Irrevocable" was the expression used by Portas when he resigned from government in July 2013. He was quickly offered the post of Deputy Prime Minister by a rattled Pedro Passos Coelho who had to keep the coalition together and avoid an early election.
Portas then spent his time annoying the country’s largest lender, managing to test the patience of a succession of Troika representatives by his rudeness and criticism of the loan conditions. As Deputy Prime Minister, Portas had no real role and spent his time travelling around the world banging the drum for Portugal while the situation back home deteriorated.
The October 4th general election this year left Portas without power and sat on the opposition benches with only a handful of MPs to lead.
A select few will lament his departure from politics.
Comments
He is fully aware that he needs the protection of being 'apparently politically active' to avoid any effective investigation into any wrongdoing over the years. Tens of thousands of other very slippery types are already doing just this across Portugal. Safe, in this country, from scrutiny. Particularly of friends and families bank accounts!
But although usefully archived in Portugal what if Germany reinvestigates Ferrostaal and the subs deals ? And, in order to interview the great man, puts out an Interpol alert to catch him should Portas travel outside Portugal ?