Fernando Alexandre (pictured), Secretary of State Assistant to the Minister of Internal Administration, resigned this morning (April 22) – the reason appears to be alleged “incompatibilities” with minister Anabela Rodrigues, reports the national press.
Alexandre is officially saying that he is resigning for “personal reasons”, but it has become all too apparent that the real reason behind his decision stemmed from “incompatibilities” with Internal Administration Minister Anabela Rodrigues.
At the time of writing, his resignation had not yet been accepted by the government.
The secretary of state was currently negotiating the terms of the new “professional status” (estatuto professional) of PSP and GNR police officers.
Both Anabela Rodrigues and Prime Minister Passos Coelho took part in a presentation in Lisbon this morning, but security guards kept journalists away in a bid to “buy time” before they comment, Antena 1 radio station reported.
If the news is confirmed, it will be the third high-profile resignation of the current PSD/CDS-PP coalition government.
Ex-Finance Minister Vítor Gaspar resigned on July 1, 2013 due to a controversy involving alleged illegal ‘swap’ deals and in November Internal Administration Minister Miguel Macedo stepped down after seeing his name linked to the ‘golden visa’ scandal involving corruption and money laundering allegations.
Paulo Portas, who “irrevocably” left his role of Minister of Foreign Affairs just a day after Gaspar abandoned his post only to return with more power than before as Deputy Prime Minister, represents the most high-profile, and even theatrical, resignation so far.
The government is expected to release a statement on this latest resignation this afternoon.
