The XXI Constitutional Government of Portugal () was the 21st government of the

Third Portuguese Republic The Third Portuguese Republic () is a period in the history of Portugal corresponding to the current democratic regime installed after the Carnation Revolution of 25 April 1974, that put an end to the paternal autocratic regime of ''Estado N ...

, under the current Constitution. It was in office from 26 November 2015 to 26 October 2019, and was formed by the members of the

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

(PS).

António Costa António Luís Santos da Costa (; born 17 July 1961) is a Portuguese lawyer and politician who has served as President of the European Council since 2024. He previously served as the 118th prime minister of Portugal from 2015 to 2024 and th ...

, leader of the PS, served as Prime Minister.

Background

After the 2015 legislative election had resulted in a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system (typically employing Majoritarian representation, majoritarian electoral systems) to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing ...

, the leader of the Portugal Ahead alliance ( PPD/PSD. CDS–PP), then Prime Minister

Pedro Passos Coelho Pedro Manuel Mamede Passos Coelho (; born 24 July 1964) is a Portuguese people, Portuguese politician and university guest lecturer who was the List of prime ministers of Portugal, 117th prime minister of Portugal, in office from 2011 to 201 ...

was given the task of forming a new government. However, as his

minority government A minority government, minority cabinet, minority administration, or a minority parliament is a government and cabinet formed in a parliamentary system when a political party or coalition of parties does not have a majority of overall seats in ...

failed to secure support by any other party, notably the Socialist, the Government Programme was rejected by a vote of 123 to 107 deputies, leading to the government's disbandment within less than a month. In the meantime, Socialist Party secretary-general

had succeeded in securing support for a Socialist minority government by the Left Bloc (BE), the

Portuguese Communist Party The Portuguese Communist Party (, , PCP) is a Communism, communist and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist List of political parties in Portugal, political party in Portugal. It is one of the strongest List of communist parties, communist par ...

(PCP) and the

Ecologist Party "The Greens" The Ecologist Party "The Greens" (, , PEV) is a Portugal, Portuguese Eco-socialism, eco-socialist List of political parties in Portugal, political party. It is a member of the European Green Party, European Greens and a founding member of the Eu ...

(PEV), in a

confidence and supply In parliamentary system, parliamentary democracies based on the Westminster system, confidence and supply is an arrangement under which a minority government (one which does not control a majority in the legislature) receives the support of one ...

agreement. Subsequently, he was appointed as the new Prime Minister on 24 November 2015. The cabinet members took their

oath of office An oath of office is an oath or affirmation a person takes before assuming the duties of an office, usually a position in government or within a religious body, although such oaths are sometimes required of officers of other organizations. Suc ...

on 26 November 2015.

Composition

The government was composed of the Prime Minister and 17 ministries comprising ministers, secretaries and under-secretaries of state.

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:21st Constitutional Government of Portugal 2015 establishments in Portugal 2019 disestablishments in Portugal Cabinets established in 2015 Cabinets disestablished in 2019 Constitutional Governments of Portugal António Costa