Lisbon, June 19, 2025 (Lusa) - Transparency International Portugal (TPI-PT) said on Thursday that the government’s programme can strengthen many of the essential pillars for effectively combating corruption and listed nine structural areas that it classified as priorities for improvement.

#The Government Programme continues the Anti-Corruption Agenda 2024 and will present a new strategy for 2030 with objective targets, measurable indicators and independent monitoring mechanisms," the organisation said in a statement, arguing that establishing such metrics will support the assessment of progress and the accountability of the government.

Among the structural omissions, the organisation stressed that the Government Programme “omits mandatory transparent parliamentary hearings” for appointments such as the Governor of the Bank of Portugal, the Attorney General or the President of the Court of Auditors, considering this “a fundamental mechanism” for ensuring merit and integrity.

"TI-PT concludes that, although the Government Programme includes positive signs, it will achieve the qualitative leap necessary to respond to Portugal’s systemic corruption challenges once it incorporates clearer, more monitorable, and ambitious commitments in this area," the document reads.

Transparency International said that progress is still needed to close “significant gaps” in the fight against corruption, including achieving financial autonomy for anti-corruption bodies.

The independent organisation notes that the government currently plans to record only the executive’s "legislative footprint’ within a centralised portal, and TI-PT proposes expanding this initiative to include parliament and local authorities for genuine public scrutiny.

AH/ADB // ADB.

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