The President of the Republic has just announced the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic and the consequent scheduling of new legislative elections for March 10th of next year.
«I did so by my own decision and for countless reasons», highlighted Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, recalling the «nature of the vote in the elections personalized to the Prime Minister». “That’s what I said in the government’s inauguration speech, highlighting the price of great personalized victories”, he highlighted.
The President explained that the parties were “clearly in favor” of this decision, while in the Council of State there was a “draw and, therefore, not in favor of dissolution – a situation, in fact, that had already occurred in the past with other heads of State”.
“Replacing the prime minister would be a weak solution”, he also said.
In any case, Marcelo wants to ensure that the State Budget, to “guarantee the indispensable economic and social stability”, will be approved before “the dismissal of the Prime Minister is formalized at the beginning of December”, which, he argued, “will meeting the expectations of many Portuguese people».
On the other hand, the Recovery and Resilience Plan “does not stop, nor can it stop, with the Government becoming a management government or later with the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic”, he added.
The President of the Republic also justified the calling of elections with the need for «clarity and direction to overcome an unexpected void that surprised the Portuguese, fond of eight years of governance». Now, he defended, this is the way of democracy, not being afraid of the people ».
In his communication to the country, from the Sala das Bicas of the Palácio de Belém, in Lisbon, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa's first words were to António Costa, whom he praised for the «elevation of the gesture» when presenting his resignation as soon as he knew that suspicions hung over him.
The head of state also made a point of “witnessing the service to the public cause for decades” by António Costa, particularly since he has been at the head of the Government and had to face the deficit crises, the pandemic, the wars in Ukraine and in Middle East.
Comments