Pedro Santana Lopes
| Pedro Santana Lopes | |
| Order: | 14th Prime Minister of Portugal (since the Carnation Revolution) |
|---|---|
| Term of Office | July 17, 2004 - |
| Predecessor: | José Durão Barroso |
| Date of Birth | June 29, 1956 |
| Place of Birth: | Lisbon |
| Political Party: | Social Democratic |
Pedro Miguel de Santana Lopes (born June 29, 1956) is a Portuguese politician, and the Prime Minister of Portugal since July 17, 2004.
Santana Lopes was born in Lisbon and graduated in Law from the University of Lisbon. He joined the Portuguese Social Democratic Party (PSD) in 1976, where he remains until present day.
He was part of the Portuguese government as the Secretary of State for Culture when Aníbal Cavaco Silva was Prime Minister. He was also Sporting Clube de Portugal's president, and later mayor of Figueira da Foz (the only occasion he finished a term in office) and then Lisbon. During this period, he also earned a living as a sports commentator.
After three unsuccessful attempts to become leader of his party, Santana Lopes finally rose to vice-president under José Durão Barroso, a man who had once called him "a mix of astrologist and sports commentator." In early July 2004, Durão Barroso resigned from his duties as Prime Minister and party leader in order to be appointed President of the European Commission, and Santana Lopes became the head of PSD. Because PSD was the major party in the coalition government at the time, Santana Lopes also inherited the seat of Prime Minister, a position he was formally invited to by president Jorge Sampaio on July 12, 2004. On November 30, President Sampaio announced he would dissolve the Portuguese Parliament and call early elections for February.
Santana Lopes is divorced and has five children of three different women.
Gaffes
Santana Lopes is known for his Quaylesque gaffes, including claiming Chopin's violin concerts as his favourite piece of classical music (which the Polish composer never wrote), sending a postcard to Brazilian author Machado de Assis (who died in 1908) and calling a press conference to announce he was being threatened when in fact he had received a mailing for a book titled Cuidado com os rapazes ("Watch out for the boys") and announcing he would leave the political life to protest against criticism and change his mind after a few days.
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