José Sócrates
Encyclopedia
José Sócrates Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, GCIH (born 6 September 1957), commonly known by José Sócrates (ʒuˈzɛ ˈsɔkɾɐtɨʃ), is a Portuguese
politician who was the Prime Minister of Portugal
from 12 March 2005 to 21 June 2011.
For the second half of 2007, he acted as the President-in-Office of the Council of the European Union. In addition to these posts, José Sócrates was Portugal's Minister for Youth and Sports and one of the organisers of the UEFA Euro 2004 football championship in Portugal, as well as being a former Environment Minister in the governments of António Guterres
.
On 23 March 2011, he submitted his resignation to the president after parliament rejected his government's austerity measures in a vote, leading to the Portuguese legislative election of 2011
. After losing the election, held on 5 June 2011, he resigned from Secretary-General of the Socialist Party
.
on 6 September 1957, and was registered as a newborn in Vilar de Maçada
, Alijó
municipality in northeastern Portugal, since the locality was his family ancestral homeland. However, the young José Sócrates lived throughout his childhood and teen years with his father, a divorced building designer, in the city of Covilhã
, Cova da Beira subregion in central inland Portugal, in the Centro region. His parents are Fernando Pinto de Sousa (b. Vilar de Maçada
, Alijó
, 15 November 1926) and wife and remote relative Maria Adelaide de Carvalho Monteiro (b. Vilar de Maçada
, Alijó, 8 October 1931). He has two younger siblings, António Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, born circa 1962, and Ana Maria Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, died in 1988. He is a descendant of the illegitimate daughter of António José Girão Teixeira Lobo Barbosa (Porto, Sé
, 9 January 1715 – Alijó, Vilar de Maçada), Fidalgo
of the Royal Household
and Knight
of the Order of Christ
, thrice distant relative of Diogo Cão
.
's basic and secondary schools, until the age of 18. Then, in 1975, he went to Coimbra
in order to attend a higher education institution. He earned in 1979 his 4-year bacharelato degree as a civil technical engineer from the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Coimbra
(established in 1974 and later incorporated into the Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra in 1988). From 1987 to 1993, he attended Universidade Lusíada, a private university in Lisbon, enrolling in law, but dropped out. In 1994/95, already a well-known politician, he briefly attended the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa
where he completed some academic disciplines in order to get a CESE diploma (a complementary diploma to his bacharelato degree because until 1999 the polytechnic
institutions did not offer licenciatura degrees), but instead, under circumstances which would provoke a controversy in 2007, he earned in 1996 the licenciatura (licentiate
degree) in civil engineering from the Universidade Independente, a private university in Lisbon
which was shut down by Portuguese authorities in 2007/2008. He also has an MBA
degree awarded in 2005 by ISCTE, a public university institute in Lisbon, that he obtained after had attended successfully the first year of a 2-year masters' degree program of ISCTE that he did not complete. After his tenure as Prime Minister of Portugal ended, the Portuguese newspaper Expresso announced he was leaving the country with his older son for studying two semesters in Paris, France.
. He has been a member of the Socialist Party since 1981. José Sócrates served as a technical engineer for the Covilhã
City Council, and has been elected a member of the Portuguese Parliament since 1987, representing the Castelo Branco
electoral district. While serving as the chairperson of the Castelo Branco Federation of the Socialist Party (1983–1996), he was elected to the Party's National Secretariat in 1991. José Sócrates was ousted by the Board of the Guarda Municipality in 1990 and 1991, after being warned several times because of poor quality of construction projects and lack of monitoring of the construction works. Sócrates was threatened with disciplinary action for wrongdoings in the technical direction of particular works of whose projects he was the author, but despite being ousted from this capacity, he was never penalized. In addition, as a Member of the Parliament, Sócrates was not allowed by law to work as a technical engineer between 1987 and 1991. From 1989 to 1996, he served as a member of the Covilhã Municipal Assembly. He served as spokesperson on environmental affairs for the Socialist Party from 1991 to 1995. In 1995, he entered government as secretary of state for Environment in the first government of António Guterres
. Two years later, Sócrates became Minister for Youth and Sports and was one of the organizers of the EURO 2004 cup in Portugal. He became Minister for Environment in Guterres' second government in 1999. Following the elections of 2002 (won by José Manuel Durão Barroso
), Sócrates became a member of the opposition in the Portuguese Parliament. Meanwhile he also had a program of political analysis, hosted jointly with Pedro Santana Lopes
on RTP. After the resignation of Ferro Rodrigues
as party leader in 2004, he won a bid for the post of secretary-general against Manuel Alegre
and João Soares, winning the vote of nearly 80% of party members on 24 September 2004. After the victory of his party in the 2005 Portuguese election, Sócrates was called on 24 February by president Jorge Sampaio to form a new government – the 17th Constitutional Government (after 1976
). After the Portuguese legislative election of 2009, held on 27 September 2009, José Sócrates was elected for a second term as Prime Minister of Portugal. He was also a Member of the Portuguese Council of State as the Prime-Minister.
, the place where he voted until the law was changed (since after the mid-2000s every person votes in one's residential area).
at places like the Red Square
in Moscow, Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana, Luanda
, and Lisbon
. In January 2008 a smoking ban entered force in Portugal's public buildings and public transport, but Sócrates was reported to have been smoking in May during a private state flight to Venezuela
where he met Hugo Chávez
. He has since admitted it was a mistake, apologized and promised to quit smoking. In addition, he claimed he was not aware he was breaking the law when he did so.
, Sócrates was called on 24 February by president Jorge Sampaio to form a new government. Sócrates and his first government (XVII Governo Constitucional) took office on 12 March 2005.
After the Portuguese legislative election of 2009
, held on 27 September 2009, José Sócrates was elected for a second term as Prime Minister of Portugal
. The new government was sworn into office on 26 October 2009.
On 5 June 2011, after the Portuguese legislative election of 2011
, the victory of Social Democratic Party
led by Pedro Passos Coelho
, forced his resignation as Secretary-General of the Socialist Party
.
The XVII Governo Constitucional government, headed by Prime Minister José Sócrates, tried to create new rules and implement reforms aiming at better efficiency and rationalized resource allocation in the public sector
, fighting civil servant overcapacity (excedentários) and reducing bureaucracy for both citizens and companies (e.g.: empresa na hora, PRACE – Programa de Reestruturação da Administração Central do Estado, and SIMPLEX – Programa de Simplificação Administrativa e Legislativa), among others. Since the XVII Governo Constitucional government (with José Sócrates as Prime Minister and Teixeira dos Santos as Minister of Finance) Portugal's fiscal policy improved with a steady increase of the number of taxpayers and the growth of the receipt amount from State taxation. However these policies had little effect, and the country's public debt and deficit were both out of control by 2010, along with a record high unemployment rate. João Bilhim directed in 2005 the committee responsible for the Programme for Restructuring the State's Central Administration (PRACE) but was said to be disappointed with the results. Several reforms and measures implemented in 2006/2007 by the government (XVII Governo Constitucional – headed by Prime Minister José Sócrates), resulted in improved welfare system financial sustainability but reduced income expectations of future pensioners up to 40%. In addition, economically active people must work for more years before retirement than formerly. A sustainability factor was also introduced, giving employees the option of working longer or receiving slightly lower pensions, as life expectancy forecasts increase. After the Portuguese regionalization referendum of 1998 where the "No" to regionalization of the country into seven regions was victorious, the XVII Governo Constitucional government announced in January 2009 its firm intention of starting again a regionalization process for Portugal. According to this governmental project, mainland Portugal was to be regionalized de jure
into five regions with a wide range of administrative autonomy, using the already established NUTS 2 system: Alentejo
, Algarve, Centro, Lisbon, and Norte. The transformation of the Portuguese public administration from a traditional one to a information technology-based multiplatform service, was praised by the European Commission
through its European Union benchmark for the sector, that consecutively placed Portugal in the first position of the ranking in 2009 and 2010.
One of the government's main policies was the Plano Tecnológico (Technological Plan), aimed at increasing Portugal's competitivity through the modernization of its economy
. The plan consisted of three key areas: knowledge, technology and innovation. A low-cost Intel-based netbook
for use by children announced by Sócrates's government cabinet, named Magalhães (after Fernão de Magalhães) and packaged and assembled for the Portuguese school-age children and the low-to-middle income economy export market by the Portuguese company J.P. Sá Couto, headquartered in Matosinhos
, Norte region, was among the government's innovations under the Technological Plan. Governmental efforts in the technological domain also included state support of a Portuguese factory that was owned by the German-based semiconductor company Qimonda AG, in Vila do Conde, Norte region, when the parent company filed a bankruptcy petition with the local court in Munich
, Germany, in early 2009. Qimonda Portugal was at the time one of the top Portuguese net exporters of technology.
The European Innovation Scoreboard
of 2010 placed Portugal-based innovation in 15th position, as a result of an impressive increase in innovation expenditure and output.
The government allocated more resources for education policy and reorganised the sector aiming more choice and better quality in vocational technical education. Enhanced and improved vocational technical education programs where implemented in 2007 in an effort to revitalize this sector which had been almost discontinued after the Carnation Revolution
of 1974. Other education reforms included more financial support for students (in all educational levels), systematic teaching and school evaluation, the compulsory closing of some problematic and unreliable private higher education institutions (like the Independente University
and Moderna University
) by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Mariano Gago
, and a will to rank and benchmark the higher education institutions through a newly created state-run agency (the Agência de Acreditação e Avaliação do Ensino Superior). During the XVII Governo Constitucional, the pan-European Bologna Process
was fully implemented in Portugal.
On the other hand, the government created a policy of certification and equivalence of qualifications for adult people with low levels of formal education who want a 4th, 6th, 9th or 12th grade equivalence without returning to school (for example, through this process, called Novas Oportunidades, adults (18 years old and older) with the 9th grade might be granted an equivalence to the 12th grade after a process ranging from a part-time 3-month programme or a 1 day per week 8-month programme; those who have less than 9th grade have a similar programme to get the 9th grade certification and can then apply to the 12th grade programme). The curricula do not include any classical high school discipline or a traditional examination process. These diplomas are awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some critics alleged this policy was an effort to make up the poor national statistical indicators on education, with little impact on the quality of the work force's qualification of Portugal in the European Union context.
According to the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment
(PISA), the average Portuguese 15-years old student was for many years underrated and underachieving in terms of reading literacy, mathematics and science knowledge in the OECD, nearly tied with the Italian and just above those from countries like Greece, Turkey and Mexico. However, since 2010, PISA results for Portuguese students improved dramatically. The PISA 2009 report states that the average Portuguese 15-years old student, when rated in terms of reading literacy, mathematics and science knowledge, is placed at the same level as those students from the United States, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, France, Danmark, United Kingdom, Hungary and Taipei
, with 489 points (493 is the average). However, a couple of weeks later, the Portuguese Ministry of Education announced a 2010 report published by its office for educational evaluation GAVE (Gabinete de Avaliação do Ministério da Educação) which criticized the results of PISA 2009 report and claimed that the average Portuguese teenage student had profund handicaps in terms of expression, communication and logic, as well as a low performance when asked to solve problems.
Prime Minister José Sócrates and his government team supported the decision of building new transportation infranstructure such as a new airport for Lisbon and a TGV
network. For months the government of Prime Minister José Sócrates insisted the country's only option for a new airport was in the Ota
region north of Lisbon. But a powerful lobby, headed by local business honchos and given the imprimatur of the Portuguese president Aníbal Cavaco Silva
, forced Sócrates's Government into reversal, by bringing an alternative site for the new airport – the Portuguese Air Force
's shooting range in Alcochete east of Lisbon. A study commissioned by a group of businesspeople said the Alcochete site would save taxpayers as much as €3bn in construction costs, and would have less of an environmental impact. The government argued that Ota was a key piece of its overall transport strategy, which included highspeed rail lines to Spain, but even so recognized that the project wasn't finalized and that a debate on the pros and cons of both sites would be worthwhile. Then the government commissioned a technical study to the state-run civil engineering laboratory (Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil) comparing both locations one to each other. Following the conclusions of that study, on 10 January 2008 the Prime Minister José Sócrates announced the option Alcochete as the most rational choice for a new airport for Lisbon.
In 2007, the XVII Governo Constitucional, headed by Prime Minister José Sócrates, legalised abortion in Portugal after a referendum. Voters were being asked to decide whether to make abortion legal in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, if carried out at the woman's request in a registered clinic. Despite the turnout for a referendum being too low (40%; 50% needed) to be legally binding, José Sócrates said: "Our interest is to fight clandestine abortion and we have to produce a law that respects the result of the referendum." This socialist government cabinet also announced its intention to legalize same-sex marriage
at some point during its mandate. Same-sex marriage in Portugal
was legalized on 17 May 2010.
Also, in 2009, through the Decree-Law 91/2009, the rights of fathers and mothers were equalled under the law (see also Fathers' rights
).
After a sharp increase of the violent crime
rate in Portugal
during the XVII Governo Constitucional government (2005–2009), the Minister of Internal Administration Rui Pereira
announced in February 2009 the expansion of the police force through the recruitment of 2,000 new police officers, 7,000 new state-of-the-art police weapons, 1,000 bulletproof vest
s, among other measures.
Until 2010, for stock
held for more than twelve months the capital gain was exempt. The capital gain of stock held for shorter periods of time was taxable on 10%. From 2010 onwards, for residents, all capital gain of stock and other assets above €500 is taxable on 20%. Investment funds, banks and corporations are in general exempted of capital gain tax over stock.
for the period July–December 2007. In this post, Sócrates and his team focused on the EU-Brazil
(1st EU-Brazil summit
) and EU-African Union
(2007 Africa-EU Summit
) relations, as well as in the approval of the Treaty of Lisbon
. The Portuguese Parliament voted to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon on 23 April 2008. After the Irish referendum on 12 June 2008, Prime Minister José Sócrates said he saw the Irish "No" to the treaty as a "personal defeat" after it was signed by EU leaders in the Portuguese capital. A second referendum was held in Ireland in 2009, and the outcome was the approval of the Treaty of Lisbon by all EU member states, including Ireland.
s compelled the Portuguese Government, like other European governments, to make radical changes in economic policy. Thus on September 2010, the Portuguese Government announced a fresh austerity package following other Eurozone
partners, aiming to halve its budget deficit by 2011 with a series of tax hikes and salary cuts for public servants. In 2009, the deficit had been 9.4%, one of the highest in the Eurozone and way above the European Union
's Stability and Growth Pact
3% limit. The Portuguese Government earlier targeted a 2011 shortfall of 5.1% but a growing crisis sparked by chronic budget expenditure, massive debt and deficit problems, forced Portugal to take even more difficult measures. In September, pressure from the International Monetary Fund
, Ecofin, OECD and the main opposition party, forced Sócrates' cabinet to adopt successive packages of radical austerity measures, contrary to what had been promised during the previous electoral campaigns.
A report published in January 2011 by the Diário de Notícias
, a leading Portuguese newspaper, demonstrated that in the period between the Carnation Revolution
in 1974 and 2010, the democratic Portuguese Republic government
s have encouraged over expenditure and investment bubbles through unclear public-private partnerships. This has funded numerous ineffective and unnecessary external consultancy and advising committees and firms, allowed considerable slippage in state-managed public works
, inflated top management and head officers' bonuses and wages, causing a persistent and lasting recruitment policy that has boosted the number of redundant public servants. The economy has also been damaged by risky credit
, public debt creation and mismanaged European structural and cohesion funds for almost four decades. Apparently, the Prime Minister Sócrates's cabinet was not able to forecast or prevent any of this when symptoms first appeared in 2005, and later was incapable of doing anything to ameliorate the situation when the country was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2011.
On 6 April 2011, having already resigned as Prime Minister, Sócrates went on television to announce that Portugal, facing bankruptcy, would request financial assistance from the IMF
(at the time managed by Dominique Strauss-Kahn
) and the European Financial Stability Facility
, as Greece
and the Republic of Ireland had already done. The announcement was made 48 hours after Sócrates had categorically denied the move would be needed.
The Portuguese government fell a day before an EU summit was due to take place to finalise the EU's response to countries requiring a bailout in the future.
After losing the Portuguese legislative election of 2011
, held on 5 June 2011, he resigned from Secretary-General of the Socialist Party
.
In that same month, Sócrates' licenciatura degree in civil engineering by Universidade Independente was put under enormous public scrutiny. Journalists found that qualifications awarded did not follow procedure and that four of the five academic discipline
s were given in the private university by the same professor, António José Moraes, a socialist government appointee. A fifth academic discipline, "technical English" was given by the Independente's rector
. A strong case was built up related to possible false declarations by José Sócrates regarding his university degree, and the way he was awarded this degree in civil engineering. Among other issues, the Independente degree in civil engineering was not an accredited degree, a civil engineering department was not yet established at that university, one examination was sent by fax
and Sócrates' diploma was issued on a Sunday, a day on which the university was always closed.
Some Portuguese news media professionals stated that Sócrates or members of his staff, through phone calls, threatened court action against journalists and tried to stop the reportings on his licenciatura degree awarded by UnI. On 9 April 2007, Universidade Independente was closed by government officials after an investigation reported several serious irregularities in the running of this private university.
Under heavy pressure, Sócrates provided his version of the facts on Wednesday 11 April 2007 in a live broadcast interview for the RTP 1
TV channel and RDP radio. The Prime Minister stated he was not favoured by the Universidade Independente to obtain the degree, declared he had been the target of "catty accusations", and defended the authenticity of the degree, though admitting he is not a fully chartered civil engineer. In his official biography at the Portuguese Government's official website Mr Sócrates claimed to have already obtained the coveted qualification of engineer. He later admitted that this was a "lapse", and the government website altered his CV, downgrading "civil engineer" to "diploma in civil engineering". In the interest of accuracy, he should have used "licenciado em engenharia civil" instead of "engenheiro". Before he had been granted the degree, he presented himself as an "engineer" when he was solely a "technical engineer". Portuguese Parliament documents with official information on Sócrates personal data were found proving such inconsistencies. Sócrates and his staff replied to this by stating that it was probably a misunderstanding in the parliamentary services. After having the licenciatura diploma he used the title "engineer" in several official documents, despite the fact that his unaccredited degree in civil engineering from Universidade Independente was not legally recognized to allow for the use of the title "engineer"; a profession which is regulated in Portugal by the Ordem dos Engenheiros
.
José Sócrates was fiercely criticised by members of Portugal's democratic opposition in the Parliament regarding both proved and unproven issues related with this controversy. Nicolau Santos, a television journalist and a director of Expresso
newspaper, criticised the controversial series of fait-divers published in Público and claimed that despite the extensive coverage of details, Público's investigation lead to "no definitive conclusion" and might be connected with other issues. In the same tone, several other media personalities, like SIC Notícias
' journalist Ricardo Costa
, also suggested controversially that SONAE
corporation, the parent company of Público newspaper, was behind the beginning of the controversy due to a failed takeover bid of SONAE's telecommunications operator over the largest Portuguese telecom – Portugal Telecom
. The complexity of the takeover bid involving the largest Portuguese telecom, prompted State intervention by the Autoridade da Concorrência
(The Portuguese Competition Authority).
It was found that a close friend of Sócrates, Armando Vara
, was also awarded a diploma by the Universidade Independente days before he was appointed to a high ranking banking administration position in the state-run Caixa Geral de Depósitos
, which in turn was strictly opened to candidates holding at last one academic degree in any subject.
. The specific government computer is only one among several dozen included in the IP range of the computer services of the state.
-based netbook
for use by children, announced and sponsored by Sócrates' cabinet, named Magalhães (after Fernão de Magalhães), assembled by the Portuguese company J.P. Sá Couto, was at the centre of a controversy on 7 October 2008, when the company was suspected of €5 million worth of tax evasion
. J.P. Sá Couto dismissed all the accusations regarding alleged fiscal fraud within the company. Other major controversy regarding Magalhães computer were the legal issues about public contracting procedure in the agreement involving the Government and the company J.P. Sá Couto. The case led to an investigation that raised other similar issues involving other governmental agreements and public contracts.
river, developed in part on protected land outside Lisbon in 2002, when he was Minister for Environment of the PM António Guterres
cabinet.
Portuguese authorities have meanwhile insisted José Sócrates was not under investigation, nor was he a suspect, while UK's Serious Fraud Office refused to confirm the veracity of reports emanating in Portugal. José Sócrates also stated the Freeport project was in due compliance with all legal requirements at the time. Júlio Eduardo Coelho Monteiro, a businessman who is an uncle of José Sócrates, told the Portuguese newspaper Sol how he established contact between his nephew and Freeport's representatives.
In a DVD held by the British police and released in March 2009 by the Portuguese media, Charles Smith, a consultant hired to handle the licensing of the Freeport of Alcochete, clearly stated that José Sócrates "was corrupt" and that he received, through a cousin, money to give the green light to the project for the "outlet". The recording revealed by TVI is only part of a conversation of 20 minutes that alongside Charles Smith also included John Cabral, an official of the consultant, and Alan Perkins, director of Freeport. It was the latter who, without knowledge of the other two, has recorded the event, where Smith and Cabral were questioned about the money that left the company to be used for the payment of "gloves" to the current Prime Minister. Charles Smith is one of two defendants in the case Freeport, commercial space on the process of Freeport Alcochete, related to alleged suspicions of corruption in the amendment to the Special Protection Area of the Tagus estuary (ZPET) decided three days before the elections of 2002, through a decree-law, when José Sócrates was Minister of Environment.
The conversation now revealed took place in 2006 with the aim of explaining the large outgoing amounts of money from the company's headquarters in London at the time of approval of the project. According to some sources contacted in London by TVI, José Sócrates remains the main suspect of British police. The British police are now set to send to the Portuguese authorities the 25 volumes of all research done in this process in England. The Serious Fraud Office, which investigates major financial fraud in Britain, has seen its activity limited due to the lack cooperation of the Portuguese authorities in investigating the case. The first official meeting took place only on 17 November 2008 in The Hague, the headquarters of Eurojust, a body which is designed to facilitate judicial cooperation in the EU. The judge Cândida Almeida, director of DCIAP (Central Department for investigation and prosecution), which coordinates the department's prosecutor who investigates the case, refused a joint research proposal by the English. Then have taken note of the DVD. The prosecutor dropped the evidence, arguing that it was not in Portuguese law.
The Eurojust
tried to distance itself from the scandal involving its head, José da Mota, Portuguese, who allegedly put pressure on prosecutors in order to stop a corruption probe involving Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates. Two magistrates dealing with the so-called Freeport affair accused José Mota of having tried to persuade them to side-line the investigation at the request of the Portuguese premier and the minister of justice. The premier and Mr Mota's relationship goes back to the late nineties, when they worked in the same government as state secretaries for environment and justice respectively. In 2002, when the new EU body was formed (Eurojust), Mr Mota was transferred to Hague as Portugal's representative to Eurojust. He was elected head of the judicial co-operation body in 2007, at a time when the so-called Freeport case had already started in Portugal.
scandal. On 28 October 2009 the police began investigating a business group headquartered in Ovar
. Armando Vara
, one of the suspects, is reported to have had "talks" with Sócrates. He denies any involvement, claiming he was only talking to a friend.
In February 2011 the company TMN, that belongs to Portugal Telecom
claimed that, because of an informatics-related problem, all the information and data about the case and related to Armando Vara (ex-vice-president of BCP), Rui Pedro Soares (ex-manager of PT), Mário Lino (ex-minister) and Paulo Penedos (ex-assistant of PT) had disappeared. David Dinis, editor in the Journal "Diário de Notícias" quit his job because of the pressure of the director, João Marcelino, to stop this information being spread by the press.
|-
|-
|-
Portugal
Portugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the...
politician who was the Prime Minister of Portugal
Prime Minister of Portugal
Prime Minister is the current title of the chief of the Portuguese Government. As chief executive, the Prime Minister coordinates the action of ministers, representing the Government from the other organs of state, accountable to Parliament and keeps the President informed...
from 12 March 2005 to 21 June 2011.
For the second half of 2007, he acted as the President-in-Office of the Council of the European Union. In addition to these posts, José Sócrates was Portugal's Minister for Youth and Sports and one of the organisers of the UEFA Euro 2004 football championship in Portugal, as well as being a former Environment Minister in the governments of António Guterres
António Guterres
António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, GCC is a Portuguese politician, a former prime minister and President of the Socialist International. Currently he is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.-Early life:...
.
On 23 March 2011, he submitted his resignation to the president after parliament rejected his government's austerity measures in a vote, leading to the Portuguese legislative election of 2011
Portuguese legislative election, 2011
A general election was held in Portugal on 5 June 2011 to elect all 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic. Pedro Passos Coelho led the center-right Social Democratic Party to victory over the Socialist Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister José Sócrates...
. After losing the election, held on 5 June 2011, he resigned from Secretary-General of the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Portugal)
The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....
.
Early years
José Sócrates was born in PortoPorto
Porto , also known as Oporto in English, is the second largest city in Portugal and one of the major urban areas in the Iberian Peninsula. Its administrative limits include a population of 237,559 inhabitants distributed within 15 civil parishes...
on 6 September 1957, and was registered as a newborn in Vilar de Maçada
Vilar de Maçada
Vilar de Maçada is a freguesia of Alijó municipality, in northern Portugal. The locality is known as the place where José Sócrates, former Portuguese Prime-Minister born in the city of Porto in 1957, was registered in that same year by his father....
, Alijó
Alijó
Alijó is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal, located in the district of Vila Real. The municipality, comprising 19 parishes, has a total area of 267.6 km² and a population of 13,942 inhabitants .-History:There are several megalithic structures, dolmens and castros in Alijó...
municipality in northeastern Portugal, since the locality was his family ancestral homeland. However, the young José Sócrates lived throughout his childhood and teen years with his father, a divorced building designer, in the city of Covilhã
Covilhã
Covilhã is a city in Covilha Municipality in Centro region, Portugal. The city proper has 36,723 inhabitants, and the municipality has an area of 555.6 km² with a total population of 53,501, being composed of 31 parishes. It is located in the Cova da Beira subregion, in the district of...
, Cova da Beira subregion in central inland Portugal, in the Centro region. His parents are Fernando Pinto de Sousa (b. Vilar de Maçada
Vilar de Maçada
Vilar de Maçada is a freguesia of Alijó municipality, in northern Portugal. The locality is known as the place where José Sócrates, former Portuguese Prime-Minister born in the city of Porto in 1957, was registered in that same year by his father....
, Alijó
Alijó
Alijó is a municipality in the Norte Region of Portugal, located in the district of Vila Real. The municipality, comprising 19 parishes, has a total area of 267.6 km² and a population of 13,942 inhabitants .-History:There are several megalithic structures, dolmens and castros in Alijó...
, 15 November 1926) and wife and remote relative Maria Adelaide de Carvalho Monteiro (b. Vilar de Maçada
Vilar de Maçada
Vilar de Maçada is a freguesia of Alijó municipality, in northern Portugal. The locality is known as the place where José Sócrates, former Portuguese Prime-Minister born in the city of Porto in 1957, was registered in that same year by his father....
, Alijó, 8 October 1931). He has two younger siblings, António Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, born circa 1962, and Ana Maria Carvalho Pinto de Sousa, died in 1988. He is a descendant of the illegitimate daughter of António José Girão Teixeira Lobo Barbosa (Porto, Sé
Sé (Porto)
Sé is a Portuguese parish, located in the municipality of Porto. It has a population of 4,751 inhabitants and a total area of 0.48 km²....
, 9 January 1715 – Alijó, Vilar de Maçada), Fidalgo
Fidalgo
Fidalgo , from Galician and Portuguese filho de algo—sometimes translated into English as "son of somebody" or "son of some "—is a traditional title used in Portugal to refer to a member of the titled or untitled nobility...
of the Royal Household
Royal Household
A Royal Household in ancient and medieval monarchies formed the basis for the general government of the country as well as providing for the needs of the sovereign and his relations....
and Knight
Knight
A knight was a member of a class of lower nobility in the High Middle Ages.By the Late Middle Ages, the rank had become associated with the ideals of chivalry, a code of conduct for the perfect courtly Christian warrior....
of the Order of Christ
Order of Christ (Portugal)
The Military Order of Christ previously the Royal Order of the Knights of Our Lord Jesus Christ was the heritage of the Knights Templar in Portugal, after the suppression of the Templars in 1312...
, thrice distant relative of Diogo Cão
Diogo Cão
Diogo Cão was a Portuguese explorer and one of the most remarkable navigators of the Age of Discovery, who made two voyages sailing along the west coast of Africa to Namibia in the 1480s.-Early life and family:...
.
Education
José Sócrates studied in CovilhãCovilhã
Covilhã is a city in Covilha Municipality in Centro region, Portugal. The city proper has 36,723 inhabitants, and the municipality has an area of 555.6 km² with a total population of 53,501, being composed of 31 parishes. It is located in the Cova da Beira subregion, in the district of...
's basic and secondary schools, until the age of 18. Then, in 1975, he went to Coimbra
Coimbra
Coimbra is a city in the municipality of Coimbra in Portugal. Although it served as the nation's capital during the High Middle Ages, it is better-known for its university, the University of Coimbra, which is one of the oldest in Europe and the oldest academic institution in the...
in order to attend a higher education institution. He earned in 1979 his 4-year bacharelato degree as a civil technical engineer from the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Coimbra
Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Coimbra
The Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Coimbra ' is an higher education polytechnic institution of engineering, based in Coimbra, Portugal...
(established in 1974 and later incorporated into the Instituto Politécnico de Coimbra in 1988). From 1987 to 1993, he attended Universidade Lusíada, a private university in Lisbon, enrolling in law, but dropped out. In 1994/95, already a well-known politician, he briefly attended the Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa
Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa
The Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa is a Portuguese higher education polytechnic institution of engineering. Headquartered in Lisbon, it belongs to the Instituto Politécnico de Lisboa.-History:...
where he completed some academic disciplines in order to get a CESE diploma (a complementary diploma to his bacharelato degree because until 1999 the polytechnic
Polytechnic (Portugal)
A polytechnic is a higher education educational institution in Portugal created in the 1980s. After 1998 they were upgraded to institutions which are allowed to confer licenciatura degrees. Before then, they only awarded short-cycle degrees which were known as bacharelatos and didn't provide...
institutions did not offer licenciatura degrees), but instead, under circumstances which would provoke a controversy in 2007, he earned in 1996 the licenciatura (licentiate
Licentiate
Licentiate is the title of a person who holds an academic degree called a licence. The term may derive from the Latin licentia docendi, meaning permission to teach. The term may also derive from the Latin licentia ad practicandum, which signified someone who held a certificate of competence to...
degree) in civil engineering from the Universidade Independente, a private university in Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
which was shut down by Portuguese authorities in 2007/2008. He also has an MBA
Master of Business Administration
The Master of Business Administration is a :master's degree in business administration, which attracts people from a wide range of academic disciplines. The MBA designation originated in the United States, emerging from the late 19th century as the country industrialized and companies sought out...
degree awarded in 2005 by ISCTE, a public university institute in Lisbon, that he obtained after had attended successfully the first year of a 2-year masters' degree program of ISCTE that he did not complete. After his tenure as Prime Minister of Portugal ended, the Portuguese newspaper Expresso announced he was leaving the country with his older son for studying two semesters in Paris, France.
Political career
José Sócrates was one of the founders of JSD (the youth branch of PSD – Portuguese Social Democratic Party) before changing his political affiliation and applying for membership in the PS – Portuguese Socialist PartySocialist Party (Portugal)
The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....
. He has been a member of the Socialist Party since 1981. José Sócrates served as a technical engineer for the Covilhã
Covilhã
Covilhã is a city in Covilha Municipality in Centro region, Portugal. The city proper has 36,723 inhabitants, and the municipality has an area of 555.6 km² with a total population of 53,501, being composed of 31 parishes. It is located in the Cova da Beira subregion, in the district of...
City Council, and has been elected a member of the Portuguese Parliament since 1987, representing the Castelo Branco
Castelo Branco (district)
Castelo Branco District is located in Central Portugal, the district capital is Castelo Branco, which is now also the most populous city, although the city of Covilhã was once the largest city....
electoral district. While serving as the chairperson of the Castelo Branco Federation of the Socialist Party (1983–1996), he was elected to the Party's National Secretariat in 1991. José Sócrates was ousted by the Board of the Guarda Municipality in 1990 and 1991, after being warned several times because of poor quality of construction projects and lack of monitoring of the construction works. Sócrates was threatened with disciplinary action for wrongdoings in the technical direction of particular works of whose projects he was the author, but despite being ousted from this capacity, he was never penalized. In addition, as a Member of the Parliament, Sócrates was not allowed by law to work as a technical engineer between 1987 and 1991. From 1989 to 1996, he served as a member of the Covilhã Municipal Assembly. He served as spokesperson on environmental affairs for the Socialist Party from 1991 to 1995. In 1995, he entered government as secretary of state for Environment in the first government of António Guterres
António Guterres
António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, GCC is a Portuguese politician, a former prime minister and President of the Socialist International. Currently he is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.-Early life:...
. Two years later, Sócrates became Minister for Youth and Sports and was one of the organizers of the EURO 2004 cup in Portugal. He became Minister for Environment in Guterres' second government in 1999. Following the elections of 2002 (won by José Manuel Durão Barroso
José Manuel Durão Barroso
José Manuel Durão Barroso is a Portuguese politician. He is President of the European Commission, since 23 November 2004. He served as Prime Minister of Portugal from 6 April 2002 to 17 July 2004.-Academic career:...
), Sócrates became a member of the opposition in the Portuguese Parliament. Meanwhile he also had a program of political analysis, hosted jointly with Pedro Santana Lopes
Pedro Santana Lopes
Pedro Miguel de Santana Lopes , a Portuguese lawyer and politician, was Prime Minister of Portugal from 2004 to 2005. He is a former and current Member of the Portuguese Parliament.-Background:...
on RTP. After the resignation of Ferro Rodrigues
Ferro Rodrigues
Eduardo Luís Barreto Ferro Rodrigues is a Portuguese politician and economist.He was Minister for Social Security, and later for Public Works in the governments of António Guterres....
as party leader in 2004, he won a bid for the post of secretary-general against Manuel Alegre
Manuel Alegre
Manuel Alegre de Melo Duarte, GCL , is a Portuguese poet and politician, member of the Socialist Party, and a candidate to the Portuguese presidential election, 2006...
and João Soares, winning the vote of nearly 80% of party members on 24 September 2004. After the victory of his party in the 2005 Portuguese election, Sócrates was called on 24 February by president Jorge Sampaio to form a new government – the 17th Constitutional Government (after 1976
Constitution of Portugal
The first Portuguese Constitution was drafted in 1822. Several revolutions led to the constitutions of 1826 , 1838 , 1911 , 1933 , and 1976 ....
). After the Portuguese legislative election of 2009, held on 27 September 2009, José Sócrates was elected for a second term as Prime Minister of Portugal. He was also a Member of the Portuguese Council of State as the Prime-Minister.
Family and residence
Sócrates is divorced from Sofia Costa Pinto Fava, an engineer, by whom he has two sons, José Miguel Fava Pinto de Sousa (b. 1993) and Eduardo Fava Pinto de Sousa (b. 1995). She is a daughter of an architect, José Manuel Carvalho Fava, and Clotilde Mesquita (daughter of Armando Mesquita and Palmira da Costa Pinto), engineer and sister of Alexandre Mesquita Carvalho Fava and Mara Mesquita Carvalho Fava. Sócrates lives in Lisbon, although he used to be a registered elector of the municipality of CovilhãCovilhã
Covilhã is a city in Covilha Municipality in Centro region, Portugal. The city proper has 36,723 inhabitants, and the municipality has an area of 555.6 km² with a total population of 53,501, being composed of 31 parishes. It is located in the Cova da Beira subregion, in the district of...
, the place where he voted until the law was changed (since after the mid-2000s every person votes in one's residential area).
Health and well-being
José Sócrates had photos of himself taken during his morning jogJogging
Jogging is a form of trotting or running at a slow or leisurely pace. The main intention is to increase fitness with less stress on the body than from faster running.-Definition:...
at places like the Red Square
Red Square
Red Square is a city square in Moscow, Russia. The square separates the Kremlin, the former royal citadel and currently the official residence of the President of Russia, from a historic merchant quarter known as Kitai-gorod...
in Moscow, Rio de Janeiro's Copacabana, Luanda
Luanda
Luanda, formerly named São Paulo da Assunção de Loanda, is the capital and largest city of Angola. Located on Angola's coast with the Atlantic Ocean, Luanda is both Angola's chief seaport and its administrative center. It has a population of at least 5 million...
, and Lisbon
Lisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
. In January 2008 a smoking ban entered force in Portugal's public buildings and public transport, but Sócrates was reported to have been smoking in May during a private state flight to Venezuela
Venezuela
Venezuela , officially called the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela , is a tropical country on the northern coast of South America. It borders Colombia to the west, Guyana to the east, and Brazil to the south...
where he met Hugo Chávez
Hugo Chávez
Hugo Rafael Chávez Frías is the 56th and current President of Venezuela, having held that position since 1999. He was formerly the leader of the Fifth Republic Movement political party from its foundation in 1997 until 2007, when he became the leader of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela...
. He has since admitted it was a mistake, apologized and promised to quit smoking. In addition, he claimed he was not aware he was breaking the law when he did so.
Prime Minister of Portugal
After the Portuguese legislative election of 2005Portuguese legislative election, 2005
The Portuguese legislative election of 2005 took place on February 20. These elections were called after the decision of President Jorge Sampaio on November 30, 2004 to dissolve the Parliament as an answer to the political instability caused by the government led by Pedro Santana Lopes in...
, Sócrates was called on 24 February by president Jorge Sampaio to form a new government. Sócrates and his first government (XVII Governo Constitucional) took office on 12 March 2005.
After the Portuguese legislative election of 2009
Portuguese legislative election, 2009
Legislative elections in Portugal were held on 27 September 2009 to renew all 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic. The Socialist Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister José Sócrates, won the largest number of seats, but didn't repeat the overall majority they gained in 2005.The Socialist...
, held on 27 September 2009, José Sócrates was elected for a second term as Prime Minister of Portugal
Prime Minister of Portugal
Prime Minister is the current title of the chief of the Portuguese Government. As chief executive, the Prime Minister coordinates the action of ministers, representing the Government from the other organs of state, accountable to Parliament and keeps the President informed...
. The new government was sworn into office on 26 October 2009.
On 5 June 2011, after the Portuguese legislative election of 2011
Portuguese legislative election, 2011
A general election was held in Portugal on 5 June 2011 to elect all 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic. Pedro Passos Coelho led the center-right Social Democratic Party to victory over the Socialist Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister José Sócrates...
, the victory of Social Democratic Party
Social Democratic Party
The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by a large number of political parties in various countries around the world...
led by Pedro Passos Coelho
Pedro Passos Coelho
Pedro Manuel Mamede Passos Coelho , is Prime Minister of Portugal. Passos Coelho started very early in politics, becoming the national leader of the youth branch of the Social Democratic Party...
, forced his resignation as Secretary-General of the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Portugal)
The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....
.
Sócrates government
Sócrates headed the government beginning on 12 March 2005, comprising the XVII and XVIII Governos Constitucionais (17th and 18th Constitutional Governments).Membership
| Ministry | Incumbent | Term |
|---|---|---|
| State and Internal Administration | António Costa António Costa António Luís dos Santos da Costa, GCIH is a Portuguese lawyer and politician, former Minister and current Mayor of Lisbon.-Political career:... |
13 March 2005 – 17 May 2007 |
| Rui Pereira Rui Pereira Rui Pereira is the Portuguese Minister of Internal Administration . He took office May 17, 2007. Before that he was a Constitutional Court judge.-External links:*... |
17 May 2007 – 5 June 2011 | |
| State and Foreign Affairs | Diogo Freitas do Amaral Diogo Freitas do Amaral Diogo Pinto de Freitas do Amaral, GCC, GCSE, GCIH , usually referred to as either Freitas do Amaral or informally Freitas, is a Portuguese politician and law professor. He was Minister of Foreign Affairs from 12 March 2005 to 1 July 2006... |
13 March 2005 – 3 July 2006 |
| Luís Amado Luís Amado Luís Filipe Marques Amado was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal in the government led by the Socialist Party. Before replacing Diogo Freitas do Amaral as Minister of Foreign Affairs on 30 June 2006, Amado was the Minister of Defence... |
3 July 2006 – 5 June 2011 | |
| State and Finances | Luís Campos e Cunha | 13 March 2005 – 21 July 2005 |
| Fernando Teixeira dos Santos Fernando Teixeira dos Santos Fernando Teixeira dos Santos , GOIH is a Portuguese economist and professor. He was Minister of Finance in the Portuguese Government led by José Sócrates .-Career:... |
21 July 2005 – 5 June 2011 | |
| Presidency | Pedro Silva Pereira | 13 March 2005 – 5 June 2011 |
| National Defence | Luís Amado Luís Amado Luís Filipe Marques Amado was Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal in the government led by the Socialist Party. Before replacing Diogo Freitas do Amaral as Minister of Foreign Affairs on 30 June 2006, Amado was the Minister of Defence... |
13 March 2005 – 3 July 2006 |
| Nuno Severiano Teixeira Nuno Severiano Teixeira Nuno Severiano Teixeira is a Portuguese politician.-Duties in the Government of Portugal:He was the Minister of Internal Administration in the 14th Constitutional Government of Portugal. He was the Minister of National Defense between 2006 and 2009.-External links:*... |
3 July 2006 – 26 October 2009 | |
| Augusto Santos Silva | 2 October 2009 – 5 June 2011 | |
| Justice | Alberto Costa Alberto Costa Alberto Bernardes Costa was the Portuguese Minister of Justice from 12 March 2005 to 26 October 2009.- References :... |
13 March 2005 – 26 October 2009 |
| Alberto Martins Alberto Martins Alberto Martins, GCL , is a Portuguese lawyer and politician.He was a Deputy to the Assembly of the Republic in the V, VI, VII, VIII, IX, X and XI Legislatures, President of the Parliamentary Committee for Constitutional Affairs, Rights and Liberties between 1995 and 1999, President of the... |
26 October 2009 – 5 June 2011 | |
| Environment | Francisco Nunes Correia | 13 March 2005 – 26 October 2009 |
| Dulce Álvaro Pássaro | 26 October 2009 – 5 June 2011 | |
| Economy, Innovation and Development | Manuel Pinho Manuel Pinho Manuel António Gomes de Almeida de Pinho is a Portuguese independent politician and economist.After a career in international institutions and in the private sector he served as Portugal's Minister of Economy and Innovation from 2005 until his resignation in July 2009... |
13 March 2005 – 2 July 2009 |
| Fernando Teixeira dos Santos Fernando Teixeira dos Santos Fernando Teixeira dos Santos , GOIH is a Portuguese economist and professor. He was Minister of Finance in the Portuguese Government led by José Sócrates .-Career:... |
2 July 2009 – 26 October 2009 | |
| José Vieira da Silva | 26 October 2009 – 5 June 2011 | |
| Agriculture | Jaime Silva Jaime Silva (Portugal) Jaime Silva was a Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fisheries of Portugal in the XVII Governo Constitucional administration team headed by Prime Minister José Sócrates. He was first appointed to the ministry in March 2005 and continued in this position until 2009 legislative... |
13 March 2005 – 26 October 2009 |
| António Soares Serrano | 26 October 2009 – 5 June 2011 | |
| Public Works and Communications | Mário Lino Mário Lino Mário Lino Soares Correia is a Portuguese politician. He was the Minister of Public Works, Transportation and Communication in the 17th Constitutional Government of Portugal.... |
13 March 2005 – 26 October 2009 |
| António Augusto Mendonça | 26 October 2009 – 5 June 2011 | |
| Labour and Social Solidarity | José Vieira da Silva | 13 March 2005 – 26 October 2009 |
| Maria Helena André | 26 October 2009 – 5 June 2011 | |
| Health | António Correia de Campos | 13 March 2005 – 30 January 2008 |
| Ana Jorge | 30 January 2008 – 5 June 2011 | |
| Education | Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues Maria de Lurdes Rodrigues is a Portuguese university professor of Sociology and politician.MLR is associate professor at ISCTE - Lisbon University Institute, where she has taught since 1986 and received her PhD in Sociology in 1996... |
13 March 2005 – 26 October 2009 |
| Isabel Alçada | 26 October 2009 – 5 June 2011 | |
| Science, Technology and High Education | Mariano Gago Mariano Gago Mariano Gago, ComSE , fullname José Mariano Rebelo Pires Gago, graduated as an electrical engineer by the Technical University of Lisbon's Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, and did advanced research work in Paris at the École Polytechnique as a high-energy physicist... |
13 March 2005 – 5 June 2011 |
| Culture | Isabel Pires de Lima | 13 March 2005 – 30 January 2008 |
| José António Pinto Ribeiro | 30 January 2008 – 26 October 2009 | |
| Maria Gabriela Canavilhas | 26 October 2009 – 5 June 2011 | |
| Parliamentary Affairs | Augusto Santos Silva | 13 March 2005 – 26 October 2009 |
| Jorge Lacão | 26 October 2009 – 5 June 2011 |
Administrative reforms
The XVII Governo Constitucional government, headed by Prime Minister José Sócrates, tried to create new rules and implement reforms aiming at better efficiency and rationalized resource allocation in the public sector
Public sector
The public sector, sometimes referred to as the state sector, is a part of the state that deals with either the production, delivery and allocation of goods and services by and for the government or its citizens, whether national, regional or local/municipal.Examples of public sector activity range...
, fighting civil servant overcapacity (excedentários) and reducing bureaucracy for both citizens and companies (e.g.: empresa na hora, PRACE – Programa de Reestruturação da Administração Central do Estado, and SIMPLEX – Programa de Simplificação Administrativa e Legislativa), among others. Since the XVII Governo Constitucional government (with José Sócrates as Prime Minister and Teixeira dos Santos as Minister of Finance) Portugal's fiscal policy improved with a steady increase of the number of taxpayers and the growth of the receipt amount from State taxation. However these policies had little effect, and the country's public debt and deficit were both out of control by 2010, along with a record high unemployment rate. João Bilhim directed in 2005 the committee responsible for the Programme for Restructuring the State's Central Administration (PRACE) but was said to be disappointed with the results. Several reforms and measures implemented in 2006/2007 by the government (XVII Governo Constitucional – headed by Prime Minister José Sócrates), resulted in improved welfare system financial sustainability but reduced income expectations of future pensioners up to 40%. In addition, economically active people must work for more years before retirement than formerly. A sustainability factor was also introduced, giving employees the option of working longer or receiving slightly lower pensions, as life expectancy forecasts increase. After the Portuguese regionalization referendum of 1998 where the "No" to regionalization of the country into seven regions was victorious, the XVII Governo Constitucional government announced in January 2009 its firm intention of starting again a regionalization process for Portugal. According to this governmental project, mainland Portugal was to be regionalized de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
into five regions with a wide range of administrative autonomy, using the already established NUTS 2 system: Alentejo
Alentejo Region
Alentejo Region is one of the NUTS 2 regions of Portugal. It covers all of the historical Alentejo Province, but the Lezíria do Tejo Subregion also covers areas of the Estremadura Province.-Subregions:* Alto Alentejo Subregion...
, Algarve, Centro, Lisbon, and Norte. The transformation of the Portuguese public administration from a traditional one to a information technology-based multiplatform service, was praised by the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
through its European Union benchmark for the sector, that consecutively placed Portugal in the first position of the ranking in 2009 and 2010.
Technological plan
One of the government's main policies was the Plano Tecnológico (Technological Plan), aimed at increasing Portugal's competitivity through the modernization of its economy
Economy of Portugal
The Economy of Portugal is a high income mixed economy. The Global Competitiveness Report 2008-2009 edition placed Portugal in the 43rd position out of 134 countries and territories....
. The plan consisted of three key areas: knowledge, technology and innovation. A low-cost Intel-based netbook
Netbook
Netbooks are a category of small, lightweight, legacy-free, and inexpensive laptop computers.At their inception in late 2007 as smaller notebooks optimized for low weight and low cost — netbooks omitted certain features , featured smaller screens and keyboards, and offered reduced computing...
for use by children announced by Sócrates's government cabinet, named Magalhães (after Fernão de Magalhães) and packaged and assembled for the Portuguese school-age children and the low-to-middle income economy export market by the Portuguese company J.P. Sá Couto, headquartered in Matosinhos
Matosinhos
Matosinhos Municipality is located in Porto District, Portugal. The main city is Matosinhos. It is bordered to the south by the city of Porto and lies within the Greater Porto subregion. The municipality has a population of 168,451 in 10 parishes. Many people have recently moved from the...
, Norte region, was among the government's innovations under the Technological Plan. Governmental efforts in the technological domain also included state support of a Portuguese factory that was owned by the German-based semiconductor company Qimonda AG, in Vila do Conde, Norte region, when the parent company filed a bankruptcy petition with the local court in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, Germany, in early 2009. Qimonda Portugal was at the time one of the top Portuguese net exporters of technology.
The European Innovation Scoreboard
European Innovation Scoreboard
The European Innovation Scoreboard is an instrument of the European Commission, developed under the Lisbon Strategy to provide a comparative assessment of the innovation performance of EU Member States...
of 2010 placed Portugal-based innovation in 15th position, as a result of an impressive increase in innovation expenditure and output.
Educational reforms
The government allocated more resources for education policy and reorganised the sector aiming more choice and better quality in vocational technical education. Enhanced and improved vocational technical education programs where implemented in 2007 in an effort to revitalize this sector which had been almost discontinued after the Carnation Revolution
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
of 1974. Other education reforms included more financial support for students (in all educational levels), systematic teaching and school evaluation, the compulsory closing of some problematic and unreliable private higher education institutions (like the Independente University
Independente University
Independente University was a private university, headquartered in Lisbon, Portugal, founded in 1993 by Luís Arouca, Rui Verde and Amadeu Lima Carvalho...
and Moderna University
Moderna University
Moderna University ' was a Portuguese private university headquartered in Lisbon, with departments in Setúbal, Porto and Beja. The institution was authorized by the Portuguese Ministry of Education to provide university higher education services in 1994...
) by the Minister for Science, Technology and Higher Education, Mariano Gago
Mariano Gago
Mariano Gago, ComSE , fullname José Mariano Rebelo Pires Gago, graduated as an electrical engineer by the Technical University of Lisbon's Instituto Superior Técnico in Lisbon, and did advanced research work in Paris at the École Polytechnique as a high-energy physicist...
, and a will to rank and benchmark the higher education institutions through a newly created state-run agency (the Agência de Acreditação e Avaliação do Ensino Superior). During the XVII Governo Constitucional, the pan-European Bologna Process
Bologna process
The purpose of the Bologna Process is the creation of the European Higher Education Area by making academic degree standards and quality assurance standards more comparable and compatible throughout Europe, in particular under the Lisbon Recognition Convention...
was fully implemented in Portugal.
On the other hand, the government created a policy of certification and equivalence of qualifications for adult people with low levels of formal education who want a 4th, 6th, 9th or 12th grade equivalence without returning to school (for example, through this process, called Novas Oportunidades, adults (18 years old and older) with the 9th grade might be granted an equivalence to the 12th grade after a process ranging from a part-time 3-month programme or a 1 day per week 8-month programme; those who have less than 9th grade have a similar programme to get the 9th grade certification and can then apply to the 12th grade programme). The curricula do not include any classical high school discipline or a traditional examination process. These diplomas are awarded based on vaguely construed life experience. Some critics alleged this policy was an effort to make up the poor national statistical indicators on education, with little impact on the quality of the work force's qualification of Portugal in the European Union context.
According to the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment
Programme for International Student Assessment
The Programme for International Student Assessment is a worldwide evaluation in OECD member countries of 15-year-old school pupils' scholastic performance, performed first in 2000 and repeated every three years...
(PISA), the average Portuguese 15-years old student was for many years underrated and underachieving in terms of reading literacy, mathematics and science knowledge in the OECD, nearly tied with the Italian and just above those from countries like Greece, Turkey and Mexico. However, since 2010, PISA results for Portuguese students improved dramatically. The PISA 2009 report states that the average Portuguese 15-years old student, when rated in terms of reading literacy, mathematics and science knowledge, is placed at the same level as those students from the United States, Sweden, Germany, Ireland, France, Danmark, United Kingdom, Hungary and Taipei
Taipei
Taipei City is the capital of the Republic of China and the central city of the largest metropolitan area of Taiwan. Situated at the northern tip of the island, Taipei is located on the Tamsui River, and is about 25 km southwest of Keelung, its port on the Pacific Ocean...
, with 489 points (493 is the average). However, a couple of weeks later, the Portuguese Ministry of Education announced a 2010 report published by its office for educational evaluation GAVE (Gabinete de Avaliação do Ministério da Educação) which criticized the results of PISA 2009 report and claimed that the average Portuguese teenage student had profund handicaps in terms of expression, communication and logic, as well as a low performance when asked to solve problems.
Transportation developments
Prime Minister José Sócrates and his government team supported the decision of building new transportation infranstructure such as a new airport for Lisbon and a TGV
TGV
The TGV is France's high-speed rail service, currently operated by SNCF Voyages, the long-distance rail branch of SNCF, the French national rail operator....
network. For months the government of Prime Minister José Sócrates insisted the country's only option for a new airport was in the Ota
Ota (Alenquer)
Ota is a Portuguese parish, located in the municipality of Alenquer. It has a population of 1,198 inhabitants and a total area of 46.36 km².-Ota airport:...
region north of Lisbon. But a powerful lobby, headed by local business honchos and given the imprimatur of the Portuguese president Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal Cavaco Silva
Aníbal António Cavaco Silva, GCC , is the President of Portugal. He won the Portuguese presidential election on 22 January 2006 and was re-elected on 23 January 2011, for a second five-year term. Cavaco Silva was sworn in on 9 March 2006....
, forced Sócrates's Government into reversal, by bringing an alternative site for the new airport – the Portuguese Air Force
Portuguese Air Force
The Portuguese Air Force is the air force of Portugal. Formed on July 1, 1952, with the Aeronáutica Militar and Aviação Naval united in a single independent Air Force, it is one of the three branches of the Portuguese Armed Forces and its origins dates back to 1912, when the military aviation...
's shooting range in Alcochete east of Lisbon. A study commissioned by a group of businesspeople said the Alcochete site would save taxpayers as much as €3bn in construction costs, and would have less of an environmental impact. The government argued that Ota was a key piece of its overall transport strategy, which included highspeed rail lines to Spain, but even so recognized that the project wasn't finalized and that a debate on the pros and cons of both sites would be worthwhile. Then the government commissioned a technical study to the state-run civil engineering laboratory (Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil) comparing both locations one to each other. Following the conclusions of that study, on 10 January 2008 the Prime Minister José Sócrates announced the option Alcochete as the most rational choice for a new airport for Lisbon.
Other
In 2007, the XVII Governo Constitucional, headed by Prime Minister José Sócrates, legalised abortion in Portugal after a referendum. Voters were being asked to decide whether to make abortion legal in the first 10 weeks of pregnancy, if carried out at the woman's request in a registered clinic. Despite the turnout for a referendum being too low (40%; 50% needed) to be legally binding, José Sócrates said: "Our interest is to fight clandestine abortion and we have to produce a law that respects the result of the referendum." This socialist government cabinet also announced its intention to legalize same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
at some point during its mandate. Same-sex marriage in Portugal
Same-sex marriage in Portugal
Same-sex marriage has been legal in Portugal since June 5, 2010. The government of Prime Minister José Sócrates introduced a bill for legalization in December 2009; it was passed by the Assembly of the Republic in February 2010. The bill was declared legally valid by the Portuguese Constitutional...
was legalized on 17 May 2010.
Also, in 2009, through the Decree-Law 91/2009, the rights of fathers and mothers were equalled under the law (see also Fathers' rights
Fathers' rights
The fathers' rights movement is a movement whose members are primarily interested in issues related to family law, including child custody and child support that affect fathers and their children. Many of its members are fathers who desire to share the parenting of their children equally with their...
).
After a sharp increase of the violent crime
Violent crime
A violent crime or crime of violence is a crime in which the offender uses or threatens to use violent force upon the victim. This entails both crimes in which the violent act is the objective, such as murder, as well as crimes in which violence is the means to an end, such as robbery. Violent...
rate in Portugal
Crime in Portugal
Crime in Portugal is characterized by low levels of gun violence and homicide, compared to other developed countries. Crime statistics are compiled annually by the Portuguese Ministry of Internal Administration and the Polícia de Segurança Pública which represents crimes reported to the police.The...
during the XVII Governo Constitucional government (2005–2009), the Minister of Internal Administration Rui Pereira
Rui Pereira
Rui Pereira is the Portuguese Minister of Internal Administration . He took office May 17, 2007. Before that he was a Constitutional Court judge.-External links:*...
announced in February 2009 the expansion of the police force through the recruitment of 2,000 new police officers, 7,000 new state-of-the-art police weapons, 1,000 bulletproof vest
Bulletproof vest
A ballistic vest, bulletproof vest or bullet-resistant vest is an item of personal armor that helps absorb the impact from firearm-fired projectiles and shrapnel from explosions, and is worn on the torso...
s, among other measures.
Until 2010, for stock
Stock
The capital stock of a business entity represents the original capital paid into or invested in the business by its founders. It serves as a security for the creditors of a business since it cannot be withdrawn to the detriment of the creditors...
held for more than twelve months the capital gain was exempt. The capital gain of stock held for shorter periods of time was taxable on 10%. From 2010 onwards, for residents, all capital gain of stock and other assets above €500 is taxable on 20%. Investment funds, banks and corporations are in general exempted of capital gain tax over stock.
Presidency of the Council of the European Union
José Sócrates, as Prime Minister of Portugal, presided over the rotative Presidency of the Council of the European UnionPresidency of the Council of the European Union
The Presidency of the Council of the European Union is the responsibility for the functioning of the Council of the European Union that rotates between the member states of the European Union every six months. The presidency is not a single president but rather the task is undertaken by a national...
for the period July–December 2007. In this post, Sócrates and his team focused on the EU-Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
(1st EU-Brazil summit
1st EU-Brazil summit
The 1st European Union–Brazil summit took place in Lisbon on 4 July 2007.-Leaders at the summit: Portugal and European Union...
) and EU-African Union
African Union
The African Union is a union consisting of 54 African states. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established on 9 July 2002, the AU was formed as a successor to the Organisation of African Unity...
(2007 Africa-EU Summit
2007 Africa-EU Summit
The Africa-EU Summit, which was held on 8 December – 9 December 2007 in Lisbon, Portugal, was the second summit between heads of state and government from EU and Africa . It was hosted by Portugal, the holder of the EU's rotating presidency...
) relations, as well as in the approval of the Treaty of Lisbon
Treaty of Lisbon
The Treaty of Lisbon of 1668 was a peace treaty between Portugal and Spain, concluded at Lisbon on 13 February 1668, through the mediation of England, in which Spain recognized the sovereignty of Portugal's new ruling dynasty, the House of Braganza....
. The Portuguese Parliament voted to ratify the Treaty of Lisbon on 23 April 2008. After the Irish referendum on 12 June 2008, Prime Minister José Sócrates said he saw the Irish "No" to the treaty as a "personal defeat" after it was signed by EU leaders in the Portuguese capital. A second referendum was held in Ireland in 2009, and the outcome was the approval of the Treaty of Lisbon by all EU member states, including Ireland.
Economic crisis
From 2005 to 2010, José Sócrates' cabinet faced increasing challenges due to economic and financial downturn. Europe's sovereign debt crisis and the lagging Portuguese economy led to huge deficits and rampant unemployment in Portugal. International financial marketFinancial market
In economics, a financial market is a mechanism that allows people and entities to buy and sell financial securities , commodities , and other fungible items of value at low transaction costs and at prices that reflect supply and demand.Both general markets and...
s compelled the Portuguese Government, like other European governments, to make radical changes in economic policy. Thus on September 2010, the Portuguese Government announced a fresh austerity package following other Eurozone
Eurozone
The eurozone , officially called the euro area, is an economic and monetary union of seventeen European Union member states that have adopted the euro as their common currency and sole legal tender...
partners, aiming to halve its budget deficit by 2011 with a series of tax hikes and salary cuts for public servants. In 2009, the deficit had been 9.4%, one of the highest in the Eurozone and way above the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
's Stability and Growth Pact
Stability and Growth Pact
The Stability and Growth Pact is an agreement among the 27 Member states of the European Union that take part in the Eurozone, to facilitate and maintain the stability of the Economic and Monetary Union...
3% limit. The Portuguese Government earlier targeted a 2011 shortfall of 5.1% but a growing crisis sparked by chronic budget expenditure, massive debt and deficit problems, forced Portugal to take even more difficult measures. In September, pressure from the International Monetary Fund
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
, Ecofin, OECD and the main opposition party, forced Sócrates' cabinet to adopt successive packages of radical austerity measures, contrary to what had been promised during the previous electoral campaigns.
A report published in January 2011 by the Diário de Notícias
Diário de Notícias
Diário de Notícias is a Portuguese daily newspaper, founded in Lisbon, on December 29, 1864 by Tomás Quintino Antunes and Eduardo Coelho. It gradually became one of the best known Portuguese newspapers...
, a leading Portuguese newspaper, demonstrated that in the period between the Carnation Revolution
Carnation Revolution
The Carnation Revolution , also referred to as the 25 de Abril , was a military coup started on 25 April 1974, in Lisbon, Portugal, coupled with an unanticipated and extensive campaign of civil resistance...
in 1974 and 2010, the democratic Portuguese Republic government
Government of Portugal
The Government is one of the four sovereignty organs of the Portuguese Republic. It is also the organ that conducts politics in general in the country and is also the superior body in public administration...
s have encouraged over expenditure and investment bubbles through unclear public-private partnerships. This has funded numerous ineffective and unnecessary external consultancy and advising committees and firms, allowed considerable slippage in state-managed public works
Public works
Public works are a broad category of projects, financed and constructed by the government, for recreational, employment, and health and safety uses in the greater community...
, inflated top management and head officers' bonuses and wages, causing a persistent and lasting recruitment policy that has boosted the number of redundant public servants. The economy has also been damaged by risky credit
Credit (finance)
Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately , but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources at a later date. The resources provided may be financial Credit is the trust...
, public debt creation and mismanaged European structural and cohesion funds for almost four decades. Apparently, the Prime Minister Sócrates's cabinet was not able to forecast or prevent any of this when symptoms first appeared in 2005, and later was incapable of doing anything to ameliorate the situation when the country was on the verge of bankruptcy in 2011.
On 6 April 2011, having already resigned as Prime Minister, Sócrates went on television to announce that Portugal, facing bankruptcy, would request financial assistance from the IMF
International Monetary Fund
The International Monetary Fund is an organization of 187 countries, working to foster global monetary cooperation, secure financial stability, facilitate international trade, promote high employment and sustainable economic growth, and reduce poverty around the world...
(at the time managed by Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Strauss-Kahn
Dominique Gaston André Strauss-Kahn , often referred to in the media, and by himself, as DSK, is a French economist, lawyer, politician, and member of the French Socialist Party...
) and the European Financial Stability Facility
European Financial Stability Facility
The European Financial Stability Facility is a special purpose vehicle financed by members of the eurozone to combat the European sovereign debt crisis. It was agreed by the 27 member states of the European Union on 9 May 2010, aiming at preserving financial stability in Europe by providing...
, as Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
and the Republic of Ireland had already done. The announcement was made 48 hours after Sócrates had categorically denied the move would be needed.
Fall of government
On 23 March 2011, Sócrates resigned following passage of a no confidence motion sponsored by all five opposition parties in parliament over spending cuts and tax increases. Before the vote, Sócrates had stated that he would resign if the vote for further austerity measures didn't pass. As a result, a general election was held in 5 June 2011.The Portuguese government fell a day before an EU summit was due to take place to finalise the EU's response to countries requiring a bailout in the future.
After losing the Portuguese legislative election of 2011
Portuguese legislative election, 2011
A general election was held in Portugal on 5 June 2011 to elect all 230 members of the Assembly of the Republic. Pedro Passos Coelho led the center-right Social Democratic Party to victory over the Socialist Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister José Sócrates...
, held on 5 June 2011, he resigned from Secretary-General of the Socialist Party
Socialist Party (Portugal)
The Socialist Party , abbreviated to PS, is a social-democratic political party in Portugal. It was founded on 19 April 1973 in the German city of Bad Münstereifel, by militants from Portuguese Socialist Action ....
.
Sócrates–Independente affair
In March 2007, Universidade Independente (UnI), a private university in Lisbon, was placed under investigation for alleged irregularities on several matters.In that same month, Sócrates' licenciatura degree in civil engineering by Universidade Independente was put under enormous public scrutiny. Journalists found that qualifications awarded did not follow procedure and that four of the five academic discipline
Academic discipline
An academic discipline, or field of study, is a branch of knowledge that is taught and researched at the college or university level. Disciplines are defined , and recognized by the academic journals in which research is published, and the learned societies and academic departments or faculties to...
s were given in the private university by the same professor, António José Moraes, a socialist government appointee. A fifth academic discipline, "technical English" was given by the Independente's rector
Rector
The word rector has a number of different meanings; it is widely used to refer to an academic, religious or political administrator...
. A strong case was built up related to possible false declarations by José Sócrates regarding his university degree, and the way he was awarded this degree in civil engineering. Among other issues, the Independente degree in civil engineering was not an accredited degree, a civil engineering department was not yet established at that university, one examination was sent by fax
Fax
Fax , sometimes called telecopying, is the telephonic transmission of scanned printed material , normally to a telephone number connected to a printer or other output device...
and Sócrates' diploma was issued on a Sunday, a day on which the university was always closed.
Some Portuguese news media professionals stated that Sócrates or members of his staff, through phone calls, threatened court action against journalists and tried to stop the reportings on his licenciatura degree awarded by UnI. On 9 April 2007, Universidade Independente was closed by government officials after an investigation reported several serious irregularities in the running of this private university.
Under heavy pressure, Sócrates provided his version of the facts on Wednesday 11 April 2007 in a live broadcast interview for the RTP 1
RTP 1
RTP1 is the first television network of Rádio e Televisão de Portugal, the Portuguese public broadcasting corporation. The first television network ever launched in Portugal, RTP1 was launched in 1957 as RTP , and also having a brief period while it was known and marketed as Canal 1...
TV channel and RDP radio. The Prime Minister stated he was not favoured by the Universidade Independente to obtain the degree, declared he had been the target of "catty accusations", and defended the authenticity of the degree, though admitting he is not a fully chartered civil engineer. In his official biography at the Portuguese Government's official website Mr Sócrates claimed to have already obtained the coveted qualification of engineer. He later admitted that this was a "lapse", and the government website altered his CV, downgrading "civil engineer" to "diploma in civil engineering". In the interest of accuracy, he should have used "licenciado em engenharia civil" instead of "engenheiro". Before he had been granted the degree, he presented himself as an "engineer" when he was solely a "technical engineer". Portuguese Parliament documents with official information on Sócrates personal data were found proving such inconsistencies. Sócrates and his staff replied to this by stating that it was probably a misunderstanding in the parliamentary services. After having the licenciatura diploma he used the title "engineer" in several official documents, despite the fact that his unaccredited degree in civil engineering from Universidade Independente was not legally recognized to allow for the use of the title "engineer"; a profession which is regulated in Portugal by the Ordem dos Engenheiros
Ordem dos Engenheiros
The Ordem dos Engenheiros is the regulatory and licensing body for the engineer profession in Portugal. It is headquartered in Lisbon, and has several regional branches in other Portuguese cities....
.
José Sócrates was fiercely criticised by members of Portugal's democratic opposition in the Parliament regarding both proved and unproven issues related with this controversy. Nicolau Santos, a television journalist and a director of Expresso
Expresso (Portuguese newspaper)
right||thumb|Expresso Expresso is the flagship publication of the Group IMPRESA, and was founded by Francisco Pinto Balsemão in 1973...
newspaper, criticised the controversial series of fait-divers published in Público and claimed that despite the extensive coverage of details, Público's investigation lead to "no definitive conclusion" and might be connected with other issues. In the same tone, several other media personalities, like SIC Notícias
SIC Notícias
SIC Notícias is the cable news channel of the Portuguese television network SIC and the second thematic channel of the station. It replaced CNL , a Lisbon region independent cable news channel owned by TV Cabo, on January 8, 2001...
' journalist Ricardo Costa
Ricardo Costa (journalist)
Ricardo Paiva Costa is a Portuguese journalist. He has worked for SIC television network as a host in several television programs, including Expresso da Meia-Noite, with Nicolau Santos. Since 2011, Ricardo Costa is the director of Expresso. Ricardo is son of Orlando da Costa, a writer, and Inácia...
, also suggested controversially that SONAE
Sonae
Sonae is a conglomerate, and is the largest private employer in Portugal. The company is primarily engaged in the operation of retail stores through its subsidiary Modelo Continente....
corporation, the parent company of Público newspaper, was behind the beginning of the controversy due to a failed takeover bid of SONAE's telecommunications operator over the largest Portuguese telecom – Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal. Although it operates mainly in Portugal and Brazil, it has also a significant presence in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Angola, Kenya, the People's Republic of China, and São Tomé and...
. The complexity of the takeover bid involving the largest Portuguese telecom, prompted State intervention by the Autoridade da Concorrência
Autoridade da Concorrência
The Autoridade da Concorrência is the Portuguese name for the Portuguese competition authority, an organisation established to ensure fair commercial competition in Portugal.-See also:*Competition law*Competition policy*Competition regulator...
(The Portuguese Competition Authority).
It was found that a close friend of Sócrates, Armando Vara
Armando Vara
Armando António Martins Vara is a Portuguese politician, member of the Portuguese Socialist Party, and banking administrator. He enrolled in philosophy, at the New University of Lisbon, leaving the institution whithout being awarded a degree...
, was also awarded a diploma by the Universidade Independente days before he was appointed to a high ranking banking administration position in the state-run Caixa Geral de Depósitos
Caixa Geral de Depósitos
Caixa Geral de Depósitos is a Portuguese state-owned banking corporation and the largest bank in Portugal.- History :*1876 — Caixa Geral de Depósitos was founded under the aegis of the Junta de Crédito Público....
, which in turn was strictly opened to candidates holding at last one academic degree in any subject.
Investigation
State authorities investigated the affair and archived the file on the grounds that the suspicions of falsification and irregularities allegedly attributed to José Sócrates turned out to be formally impossible to prove. On the other hand, the Universidade Independente was investigated by education state authorities in 2007, which resulted in the compulsory closing of that private university due to lack of academic rigour and teaching quality, along with generalized managerial and financial chaos in the institution.Wikipedia
On 17 August 2007, a new controversy arose after the discovery that a government computer had been used to remove all the references to the Sócrates-Independente affair from the English WikipediaEnglish Wikipedia
The English Wikipedia is the English-language edition of the free online encyclopedia Wikipedia. Founded on 15 January 2001 and reaching three million articles by August 2009, it was the first edition of Wikipedia and remains the largest, with almost three times as many articles as the next...
. The specific government computer is only one among several dozen included in the IP range of the computer services of the state.
Magalhães computer
A low-cost Intel Classmate PCClassmate PC
The Classmate PC, formerly known as Eduwise, is Intel's entry into the market for low-cost personal computers for children in the developing world. It is in some respects similar to the One Laptop Per Child trade association's Children's Machine , which has a similar target market...
-based netbook
Netbook
Netbooks are a category of small, lightweight, legacy-free, and inexpensive laptop computers.At their inception in late 2007 as smaller notebooks optimized for low weight and low cost — netbooks omitted certain features , featured smaller screens and keyboards, and offered reduced computing...
for use by children, announced and sponsored by Sócrates' cabinet, named Magalhães (after Fernão de Magalhães), assembled by the Portuguese company J.P. Sá Couto, was at the centre of a controversy on 7 October 2008, when the company was suspected of €5 million worth of tax evasion
Tax evasion
Tax evasion is the general term for efforts by individuals, corporations, trusts and other entities to evade taxes by illegal means. Tax evasion usually entails taxpayers deliberately misrepresenting or concealing the true state of their affairs to the tax authorities to reduce their tax liability,...
. J.P. Sá Couto dismissed all the accusations regarding alleged fiscal fraud within the company. Other major controversy regarding Magalhães computer were the legal issues about public contracting procedure in the agreement involving the Government and the company J.P. Sá Couto. The case led to an investigation that raised other similar issues involving other governmental agreements and public contracts.
Use of foreign languages
Sócrates was criticised for his low proficiency in both Spanish and English. An article published in Expresso accused him of blending Portuguese and Spanish expressions with a Spanish accent in an official meeting in Madrid, instead of speaking his mother tongue, or at least trying to learn and use proper Spanish.Freeport outlet controversy
Since 2005, and, especially again in 2009, it was suggested by some Portuguese and British media that José Sócrates allegedly waived environmental restrictions, following intervention by one of his uncles and a cousin, to grant the British company Freeport a licence to build the Alcochete mall, a gigantic emporium near the TagusTagus
The Tagus is the longest river on the Iberian Peninsula. It is long, in Spain, along the border between Portugal and Spain and in Portugal, where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean at Lisbon. It drains an area of . The Tagus is highly utilized for most of its course...
river, developed in part on protected land outside Lisbon in 2002, when he was Minister for Environment of the PM António Guterres
António Guterres
António Manuel de Oliveira Guterres, GCC is a Portuguese politician, a former prime minister and President of the Socialist International. Currently he is the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.-Early life:...
cabinet.
Portuguese authorities have meanwhile insisted José Sócrates was not under investigation, nor was he a suspect, while UK's Serious Fraud Office refused to confirm the veracity of reports emanating in Portugal. José Sócrates also stated the Freeport project was in due compliance with all legal requirements at the time. Júlio Eduardo Coelho Monteiro, a businessman who is an uncle of José Sócrates, told the Portuguese newspaper Sol how he established contact between his nephew and Freeport's representatives.
In a DVD held by the British police and released in March 2009 by the Portuguese media, Charles Smith, a consultant hired to handle the licensing of the Freeport of Alcochete, clearly stated that José Sócrates "was corrupt" and that he received, through a cousin, money to give the green light to the project for the "outlet". The recording revealed by TVI is only part of a conversation of 20 minutes that alongside Charles Smith also included John Cabral, an official of the consultant, and Alan Perkins, director of Freeport. It was the latter who, without knowledge of the other two, has recorded the event, where Smith and Cabral were questioned about the money that left the company to be used for the payment of "gloves" to the current Prime Minister. Charles Smith is one of two defendants in the case Freeport, commercial space on the process of Freeport Alcochete, related to alleged suspicions of corruption in the amendment to the Special Protection Area of the Tagus estuary (ZPET) decided three days before the elections of 2002, through a decree-law, when José Sócrates was Minister of Environment.
The conversation now revealed took place in 2006 with the aim of explaining the large outgoing amounts of money from the company's headquarters in London at the time of approval of the project. According to some sources contacted in London by TVI, José Sócrates remains the main suspect of British police. The British police are now set to send to the Portuguese authorities the 25 volumes of all research done in this process in England. The Serious Fraud Office, which investigates major financial fraud in Britain, has seen its activity limited due to the lack cooperation of the Portuguese authorities in investigating the case. The first official meeting took place only on 17 November 2008 in The Hague, the headquarters of Eurojust, a body which is designed to facilitate judicial cooperation in the EU. The judge Cândida Almeida, director of DCIAP (Central Department for investigation and prosecution), which coordinates the department's prosecutor who investigates the case, refused a joint research proposal by the English. Then have taken note of the DVD. The prosecutor dropped the evidence, arguing that it was not in Portuguese law.
The Eurojust
Eurojust
Eurojust is an agency of the European Union dealing with judicial co-operation in criminal matters....
tried to distance itself from the scandal involving its head, José da Mota, Portuguese, who allegedly put pressure on prosecutors in order to stop a corruption probe involving Portuguese Prime Minister José Sócrates. Two magistrates dealing with the so-called Freeport affair accused José Mota of having tried to persuade them to side-line the investigation at the request of the Portuguese premier and the minister of justice. The premier and Mr Mota's relationship goes back to the late nineties, when they worked in the same government as state secretaries for environment and justice respectively. In 2002, when the new EU body was formed (Eurojust), Mr Mota was transferred to Hague as Portugal's representative to Eurojust. He was elected head of the judicial co-operation body in 2007, at a time when the so-called Freeport case had already started in Portugal.
Face Oculta scandal
Another corruption case involving Sócrates is the Face OcultaFace Oculta
Face Oculta is a Portuguese nationwide political corruption, money-laundering and corporate tax evasion scandal, first noticed in October 2009. The Polícia Judiciária investigated the business group headed by Manuel Godinho, suspected of economic crimes and bribery of managers of public funds...
scandal. On 28 October 2009 the police began investigating a business group headquartered in Ovar
Ovar
Ovar Municipality is a municipality in Aveiro District, Baixo Vouga Subregion in Portugal. It has a total area of 147.4 km² and a total population of 56,296 inhabitants, and 42,582 electors . The city of Ovar itself has a population of 16,849....
. Armando Vara
Armando Vara
Armando António Martins Vara is a Portuguese politician, member of the Portuguese Socialist Party, and banking administrator. He enrolled in philosophy, at the New University of Lisbon, leaving the institution whithout being awarded a degree...
, one of the suspects, is reported to have had "talks" with Sócrates. He denies any involvement, claiming he was only talking to a friend.
In February 2011 the company TMN, that belongs to Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom
Portugal Telecom is the largest telecommunications service provider in Portugal. Although it operates mainly in Portugal and Brazil, it has also a significant presence in Guinea-Bissau, Cape Verde, Mozambique, Timor-Leste, Angola, Kenya, the People's Republic of China, and São Tomé and...
claimed that, because of an informatics-related problem, all the information and data about the case and related to Armando Vara (ex-vice-president of BCP), Rui Pedro Soares (ex-manager of PT), Mário Lino (ex-minister) and Paulo Penedos (ex-assistant of PT) had disappeared. David Dinis, editor in the Journal "Diário de Notícias" quit his job because of the pressure of the director, João Marcelino, to stop this information being spread by the press.
External links
Portuguese government website – Official web site Portuguese government website – Official web site|-
|-
|-