Portugal’s new Socialist government gets off to bumpy start

By BARRY HATTON
Associated Press

LISBON, Portugal (AP) — Portugal is getting a new foreign minister, finance minister and defense minister as the center-left Socialist Party prepares for its third straight term in government. The Socialists won January’s general election in a landslide, capturing 119 seats in the 230-seat parliament for a four-year term. The names of the new Cabinet members were leaked late Wednesday before they were formally presented to Portugal’s president, in the latest misstep that has marked the run-up to the government’s official swearing-in next week. Prime Minister António Costa has appointed more women than men to his 17-member Cabinet in a first for Portugal.