Portugal's Finance Minister has resigned

The Portuguese Finance Minister, Vítor Gaspar, resigned this afternoon. He had lost the public opinion battle long ago, as he was seen by the voters as the engine of the austerity programme Portugal has been implementing for two years. His name was, in the people’s minds, linked to taxes and economic recession. This was, of course, an unfair connection, as the economic situation of the country is much more complex than just the austerity measures he had to adopt. But politics are like that: you cannot find yourself without a popular power base.

For a long period, his power came from the confidence the Prime Minister had on his abilities to master the intricacies of the financial adjustment programme in addition to fact that Gaspar had a lot of support in Brussels, Berlin, Frankfurt and other EU capitals. But this was a time-bound power base, condemned to die. As the Prime Minister felt more and more isolated, including within his own party, his support to the man everyone identifies with the austerity could only come to an end. It has now happened. And Gaspar, who is an outsider in terms of the national politics, could read the writing on the wall.