LISBON (Reuters) - Portuguese opposition parties agreed Tuesday to launch a parliamentary inquiry into allegations that the Socialist government tried to interfere in the media, a lawmaker said.
The inquiry is a blow to the government which has faced allegations for months that it planned to interfere in the media sector by using Portugal Telecom, in which it has a golden share, to buy a television station.
Members of parliament from the centre-right Social Democrats, the main opposition party, teamed up with the Left Bloc to submit a proposal to establish a formal inquiry into the issue.
"This guarantees that there will be a parliamentary inquiry, unless the proponents withdraw it," Celeste Correia, a member of parliament for the ruling Socialists and spokeswoman for the cross-party council of leaders in parliament, told Reuters.
The accusations revolve around Portugal Telecom trying to buy television station TVI, which had been critical of the Socialist government, before last year's general election. A state-appointed board member of Portugal Telecom has quit over the issue.
Parliament launched non-binding hearings into the issue last month. Prime Minister Jose Socrates has denied the accusations, calling them politically-motivated lies and an attempt to undermine his rule.
The issue has already dented Socrates' popularity -- a poll this weekend showed the number of Portuguese who have a positive image of him fell to 29.4 percent in February from 40.3 percent -- as his minority government struggles to boost the economy.
Civil servants plan a strike Thursday against austerity measures by the government.
Portuguese assets have faced headwinds in markets this year as some investors have fretted that contagion from Greece's fiscal crisis could undermine the minority government's efforts to cut the budget deficit.
Tension between the Socialists and the opposition have made the situation more difficult as the minority government needs the support of opposition parties to pass the 2010 budget.
Portugal's budget deficit reached 9.3 percent of gross domestic product in 2009 and the government has promised to reduce it to 3 percent by 2013. Still, Portugal's debt is far lower than Greece's.
(Reporting by Daniel Alvarenga and Axel Bugge; editing by Andrew Roche)
