MADRID (AP) — Portugal’s Interior Minister Maria Lúcia Amaral has tendered her resignation following mounting criticism over her administration’s handling of a devastating series of winter storms that have claimed at least seven lives across the nation.
The presidential office announced late Tuesday that Amaral reached her decision after determining she “no longer maintained the requisite personal and political credentials to continue in her ministerial capacity.” President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s administration confirmed the departure, noting that Prime Minister Luís Montenegro would assume temporary oversight of the interior portfolio.
Portugal, an EU member state with approximately 10.7 million inhabitants, has endured catastrophic weather conditions throughout the winter season. Successive storms have unleashed widespread flooding, triggered dangerous landslides, caused extensive power disruptions, and inflicted severe damage to critical infrastructure nationwide.
Amaral, who previously practiced law, faced particular scrutiny for her department’s perceived inadequate response to Storm Kristin in late January. The severe weather event resulted in six fatalities according to domestic media assessments. Another life was lost last week when Storm Leonardo battered both Portugal and neighboring Spain.
This ministerial resignation marks the first cabinet-level departure since Montenegro’s center-right coalition government assumed power in May of the previous year.