António Vitorino

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António Vitorino (Lisbon, January 12, 1957), pron. IPA: [ɐ̃'tɔniu vitu'ɾinu], is a Portuguese politician, member of the Socialist Party (PS).

[edit] Career

Vitorino graduated in law from the University of Lisbon. A lawyer by training, he was first elected to Parliament in 1980. He was part of the Portuguese administration in Macau, returning in 1989 to become a judge of the Constitutional Court.

In 1995, he became minister for defence and deputy prime minister in the first government of António Guterres. He resigned in 1997 for being suspected of tax evasion. After being cleared of the charges, he was appointed European Commissioner for justice and home affairs.

In 2004, Vitorino refused to run for leader of the Socialist Party after the resignation of Ferro Rodrigues, despite being overwhelmingly the favourite candidate.^{[citation needed]} José Sócrates become the new leader of the party instead of Vitorino.

In addition to his ongoing role as commentator for RTP 1's programme Notas Soltas hosted by television journalist Judite de Sousa, Vitorino is also a lawyer.