Paulo Portas will be deputy prime minister, with responsibility for coordinating economic policies, the relationship with the troika and the reform of the state.
This will be, at least, the proposal that came out of the meetings between the leaders of the two parties that support the government coalition and that Prime Minister Passos Coelho presented to the President of the Republic that Paulo Portas.
In a statement made this Saturday in Lisbon, with Paulo Portas at his side, Prime Minister Passos Coelho also said that the agreement to ensure the continuity of the PSD/CDS government coalition also provides for the maintenance of Maria Luís Albuquerque as Minister of State and Finance.
There will still be "profound changes in the organization of the Government", added the prime minister, not providing details on what changes.
With these changes to the structure of the Government, the leader of the CDS/PP is hierarchically above Minister of State Maria Luís Albuquerque, whose appointment was, on Tuesday, the reason invoked by Portas for his resignation.
These changes will still have to be approved by the President of the Republic, but their announcement, if they obtain the presidential yes, should only be made on Tuesday, after Cavaco Silva had heard the other parties.
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