Portugal’s Prime Minister António Costa has nominated current Secretaries of State Joao Galamba and Marina Gonçalves to be appointed Ministers of Infrastructure and Housing, respectively.
«The President of the Republic has accepted the Prime Minister’s proposal for the creation of the Ministry of Infrastructure and the Ministry of Housing by the division of the Ministry of Infrastructure and Housing and has accepted the Prime Minister’s proposal to appoint Joao Saldanha de Azevedo Galamba as Minister of Infrastructure and Marina Sola Gonçalves as Minister of Housing,» published the Presidency of the Portuguese Republic.
Galamba and Gonçalves thus inherit the ministry headed until now by Pedro Nuno Santos. Galamba was Secretary of State for the Environment and Energy, while Marina Gonçalves was Secretary of State for Housing, reports the newspaper ‘Diário de Notícias’.
Costa has defended the appointment by appealing to his seven years at the head of the government. «Throughout these seven years I have faced very demanding moments: financial recovery, pandemic, inflation, economic crisis. In all these difficult moments it has always been possible to overcome the difficulties and guarantee the stability of the policies», he pointed out.
Costa pointed out that «a very demanding year is foreseen for 2023 due to the contraction of the economy on a global scale» and «it is important to guarantee the good execution of public investment», which is why he has proposed these changes in the Government. He also recalled that both names have experience and «provide guarantees».
Meanwhile, from the opposition, the president of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), Luís Montenegro, has accused Costa of having lost the capacity to recruit figures from civil society after recalling the «apparatus» party profile of both new ministers.
He has also called for the resignation of the «dead weight» of the Minister of Finance, Fernando Medina. «Either the government changes its life or the Portuguese will demand to change the government», he warned.
Source: (EUROPA PRESS)
