International

Portuguese minister resigns over slapping row

Published

8 years ago

April 11, 2016

Portuguese minister resigns over slapping row

Portuguese Culture Minister Joao Soares has stepped down after a deluge of calls for him to resign, a day after threatening to slap critics who dared to call him “incompetent and rude”.

Soares drew the ire of critics who called for his immediate resignation after he shared a post on Facebook saying he wanted to slap two newspaper columnists followed by what was seen by many as a half-hearted apology.

After being called “incompetent” and promoting a “work style of cronyism, domineering and rudeness”, Soares said it was time to slap two columnists at influential daily newspaper Publico.

“I see that I do have to find him (columnist Augusto Seabra), and now also Vasco Pulido Valente, to give them some sound slapping. It will be good for them. And for me,” Soares, 66, wrote on Facebook.

After his comments, Prime Minister Antonio Costa issued a public apology on behalf of his cabinet late on Thursday, saying that the episode “does not reflect how the government wants to relate to people” and that he told his ministers “to be reserved and … never forget that they are government members.”

The apology was again criticized in the media as tongue-in-cheek and oblivious of the seriousness of the situation.

He said he accepted Soares’ resignation. “I respect his decision and I thank him for his efforts and dedication in his job,” Costa told reporters.

Before the resignation, the main opposition Social Democratic Party attacked the ruling Socialists as a whole, saying Soares represented their “general lack of respect for criticism and freedom of expression”.

Soares, a Socialist and the son of former president and Prime Minister Mario Soares, is the first minister to leave the new left-leaning government of Socialist Prime Minister Antonio Costa, which took over last November.

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