Pedro Santana Lopes

Pedro Miguel de Santana Lopes (born the June 29th, 1956) is a Politician Portuguese and was the Prime Minister of Portugal, of the July 17th 2004 with the March 12th 2005.

Santana Lopes was born with Lisbon and accepted its diploma of right of the Université of Lisbon. It joined the social democrat Parti Portuguese (PSD) in 1976, where it remained until now.

It belonged to the Portuguese government as a Secretary of State to the Culture when Aníbal Cavaco Silva was Prime Minister. Mr. Lopes was then also president of Sporting Clube of Portugal and later, it became mayor of Figueira da Foz (the only time where he went at the end of his mandate), then that of Lisbon. For this period, it earned its living as sporting commentator.

Following three tests missed to become chief of its party, Santana Lopes became finally the vice-president under Jose Manuel Durão Barroso, the man who had indicated it once like “ a mixture of astrologer and sporting commentator ”. At the beginning of July 2004, Durão Barroso dislocated its functions of Prime Minister and those of chief of the party to accept his nomination as a president European commission, and Santana Lopes could thus become chief of the PSD. Because the PSD was then the principal party in the Coalition government, Santana Lopes also inherited the post of Prime Minister, a position to which it was invited formally by the President of the Republic, Jorge Sampaio the July 12th 2004.

After four months of a governorship largely considered as unstable, president Sampaio decided to dissolve the Parliament, and to call with the anticipated elections for February 20th 2005, where Santana Lopes and its party suffered a clear failure against Jose Sócrates and the Socialist party.

Blunders

Santana Lopes is well-known for its blunders with daN Quayle. For example, Lopes says that the Concert S for violin of Chopin were his preferred parts of classical music, whereas the Polish type-setter never wrote such parts. Also, Lopes sent a postcard to the Brazilian author Machado de Assis which died in 1908. Lastly, it gave a press conference to announce that it was threatened when it had accepted a publicity for a book of the title Cuidado COM bone rapazes ( Faites attention with the boys ).

Santana Lopes is unmarried and has five children of three various women.

External bond

the official Web site of the Prime Minister (in Portuguese)

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