Two more Portuguese ministers from the junior ruling coalition party were ready to resign on Wednesday, local media said, deepening turmoil that could trigger a snap election and derail Lisbon's exit from an EU/IMF bailout. Multiple newspaper radio and television reports said Agriculture Minister Assuncao Cristas and Social Security Minister Pedro Mota Soares will follow their CDS-PP party leader Paulo Portas who tendered his resignation on Tuesday. Party officials were not available to comment as the party's executive commission was in a meeting. Prime Minister Pedro Passos Coelho told the nation late on Tuesday that he did not accept Portas' resignation and would continue to head the government to ensure political stability and work to overcome the stalemate. Many commentators called the situation "absurd". With no solution imminent, Portugal's bond and stock prices slumped further. The returns investors demand to hold 10-year bonds surged to above 8.1 percent for the first time since November and the PSI 20 stock index slumped 6 percent, led by sharp losses of over 10 percent in banks' shares. Coelho's decision to reject his foreign minister's resignation puts the responsibility for the government's survival squarely on the shoulders of Portas, who now has to decide whether to stay in his post or pull his rightist CDS-PP party out of the coalition. Without the CDS-PP, the center-right government would lose its majority. "One thing is certain, the prime minister is going to do everything to stay on, giving all possible concessions to Portas," said political scientist Antonio Costa Pinto. "Failing that, however, we can hardly avoid an early election." Portugal is subject to strict budget conditions imposed by a European Union/International Monetary Fund bailout. It had been hoping to return to normal debt markets but rows over continued austerity have now thrown this into question.
