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| Portugal PM Passos refuses to quit after two resignations | Portugal PM Passos refuses to quit after two resignations |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Portugal's Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho has said he will not stand down, despite the resignation of two key members of his government in as many days. | Portugal's Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho has said he will not stand down, despite the resignation of two key members of his government in as many days. |
| He said he would not abandon his country, hours after Foreign Minister Paulo Portas announced his resignation. | He said he would not abandon his country, hours after Foreign Minister Paulo Portas announced his resignation. |
| On Monday, Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar stepped down, pointing to public opposition to austerity measures. | On Monday, Finance Minister Vitor Gaspar stepped down, pointing to public opposition to austerity measures. |
| Portugal is struggling to meet the terms of its 78bn-euro bailout in 2011. | Portugal is struggling to meet the terms of its 78bn-euro bailout in 2011. |
| "I won't give up on my country," the Social Democrat PM said in a televised address on Tuesday. | |
| He also said he would not accept the resignation of Mr Portas, whose CDS-PP party is a junior member of the centre-right coalition. | |
| Political commentators immediately responded with scepticism to the idea that the foreign minister could stay on in government, BBC Lisbon correspondent Alison Roberts reports. | |
| Mr Portas was given the task of overseeing budget cuts when the finance minister resigned on Monday. | |
| "The prime minister chose to follow the path of continuity at the finance ministry," Mr Portas said in his letter of resignation on Tuesday. | |
| "I respect this choice but I disagree. I expressed this view to the prime minister who nevertheless confirmed his choice." | |
| Portugal has been in recession for two years and the economy is expected to contract by 2.3% this year. | |
| Last week a general strike brought public transport to a halt. | |
| The coalition has been in power for two years. | |
| Mr Gaspar, the man seen as the architect of austerity in Portugal, said in his own resignation letter that he was leaving because of the growing erosion of public support for austerity measures. |