Lisbon: Portuguese Prime Minister Luis Montenegro has called for a confidence vote in parliament while the main opposition parties vowed to defeat him. The vote is scheduled for next Wednesday, and if the minority government he leads falls, the country could head to its third parliamentary election in just three years.

According to Qatar News Agency, the two largest opposition parties, the Socialist Party and the right-wing populist Chega party, which have a majority in Portugal’s Assembly of the Republic, have announced that they will not support the conservative prime minister. Amid the escalating political crisis, Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa has cancelled a visit to Estonia that was scheduled for next Wednesday.

If Montenegro’s government falls, President Rebelo de Sousa will have to either task another political figure with forming a new government or call for early elections. Montenegro, who has been in power for less than a year after snap elections in March 2024, survived two no-confidence votes in February, as well as another on Wednesday evening.