Portugal : J-66 avant les élections législatives anticipées. En proie à une crise politique depuis la démission du premier ministre José Socrates la semaine dernière, le Portugal connait enfin la date des prochaines élections législatives : dimanche 5 juin 2011. Dissolution du parlement Le président portugais Anibal Cavaco Silva a annoncé hier soir à la télévision sa décision d’accepter la démission de Socrates et de dissoudre le parlement. Selon lui, « il était clair que seules des élections peuvent créer de nouvelles conditions pour que le pays soit gouverné » et d’ajouter que « le prochain gouvernement va devoir affronter une crise économique et financière sans précédent ».
La situation économique se dégrade Depuis plusieurs mois, le pays est en effet dans la ligne de mire de la défiance des marchés financiers qui refusent de prêter au pays à moins de ~8% de taux d’intérêt. Le temps sera long d’ici juin… José Socrates, lui, continue de penser que le pays peut se passer d’aide extérieure. Photo flickr CC Ricardo Motti. Semaine décisive pour le gouvernement Sócrates. Portugal's government mired in crisis as EU bailout looms | Business.
Portuguese prime minister José Sócrates has said he has submitted his resignation to the president after parliament rejected his minority Socialist government's latest austerity measures. The loss of the vote "has taken away from the government all conditions to govern", Sócrates said. It brings the country closer to needing a bailout.
Sócrates is said he tendered his resignation to President Aníbal Cavaco Silva tonight, leaving the country in a political limbo that would place further pressure on Portugal's record-level bond yields. Sócrates had said before the vote that he would resign if the measures to cut spending and increase taxes – designed to see off a bailout similar to those taken by Greece and Ireland – were rejected. The measures had aroused the fury of trade unions, and railway engineers walked off the job in the morning, causing widespread travel disruption. An election in Portugal will take at least 55 days to organise. Portugal's national debt stands at 83% of GDP. Portugal needs its sleeping king now more than ever | José Manuel Fernandes. The discussions had barely started on Wednesday night when the then prime minister, José Sócrates, made an abrupt exit from a crucial meeting at the Portuguese parliament, running down the stairs of the building in order to escape the reporters waiting for him at the bottom.
Like everyone else in the country, the press had wanted to know why he was so disrespectful towards the representatives of the nation. The TV images of this hasty escape have already become iconic: after having his austerity package rejected, Sócrates soon announced his resignation, plunging Portugal – and Europe – deep into political crisis. On the streets, Sócrates's resignation was greeted with a sigh of relief. For many, the prime minister has come to embody the ills of our country and the sins of our political leaders. The national debt is at its highest in more than a century. Deep down, Portugal feels it has been playing catch-up for the last two centuries. Conjoncture : Portugal : la démission annoncée du gouvernement. Le Parlement portugais a rejeté mercredi le programme d'austérité du gouvernement socialiste, ouvrant la voie à la démission du premier ministre José Socrates à la veille d'un sommet européen crucial. Sous la triple pression du marché, de Bruxelles et de son Parlement, le gouvernement portugais vit ses dernières heures.
En minorité, le premier ministre socialiste José Socrates n'a pas réussi à faire adopter au Parlement, mercredi après-midi, un quatrième plan de rigueur en un an. Les cinq partis d'opposition, de la droite à l'extrême-gauche, ont voté à l'unanimité pour rejeter ce plan, censé «garantir» la réduction des déficits publics et éviter un recours à l'aide extérieure. S'exprimant après cinq heures de débats, le ministre porte-parole du gouvernement Pedro Silva Pereira a dénoncé l'»irresponsabilité» d'une «coalition négative» qui «rejette un instrument essentiel de l'action du gouvernement». José Socrates avait averti qu'en cas d'échec, il démissionnerait. Déficit incertain. Moody’s downgrades Portugal to A3 from A1. S&P Warns May Downgrade Portugal Again As Early As This Week | zero hedge.
Just released by Moody's: On March 23, 2011, the Portuguese parliament rejected the government's proposed austerity package. Prime Minister José Sócrates subsequently resigned, which, in our opinion, increases policy uncertainty and heightens Portugal's refinancing risk. We have lowered our long-term sovereign credit rating on Portugal by two notches to 'BBB' from 'A-'. The 'A-2' short-term sovereign credit rating is unchanged. All ratings remain on CreditWatch with negative implications, pending the official announcement about the European Stability Mechanism.
We are lowering our long- and short-term counterparty credit ratings on the five Portuguese banks and two related subsidiaries that we rate. More bad news for Portuguese bonds which just traded at lifetime high yields. Full report: Rating Action On March 28, 2011, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services lowered its long- and short-term ratings on the five Portuguese banks and two related subsidiaries that it rates. Rationale. Portugal to Revise Figures in 2010 Budget. Can Portugal survive until new elections? | Brussels blog | News on the European Union from the Financial Times.
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The political problem with Portugal’s bailout.