Portuguese 2022 budget rejected, triggering political crisis

Photo taken on Oct. 27, 2021 shows the parliamentary debate on the Portuguese State Budget for 2022 at the parliament in Lisbon, Portugal. The Portuguese State Budget for 2022, presented by the Socialist Party (PS) government, was rejected by the Assembly of the Republic on Wednesday. (Photo by Pedro Fiuza/Xinhua)

LISBON, Oct. 27 (Xinhua) -- The Portuguese State Budget for 2022, presented by the Socialist Party (PS) government, was rejected by the Assembly of the Republic on Wednesday.

Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has threatened before the parliamentary debate that he would dissolve the parliament and call for early elections if the budget is rejected.

The Constitution of Portugal provides that early elections should take place within 60 days of dissolving of the parliament.

Prime Minister Antonio Costa has also vowed that he will run in the elections "to be accountable and mobilize the Portuguese to create the conditions of governability that do not exist today."

The political crisis, the first of its kind for a current government since the country entered a democracy in 1974, was caused by the disagreement between the ruling Socialist Party (PS) and its traditional ally Portuguese Communist Party (PCP) and the Left Bloc. Enditem