The Council of State has approved this Wednesday by a majority the dissolution of the Parliament of Portugal at the proposal of the president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who will announce this Thursday the date of the new elections, probably January 30, after last week reject the 2022 budget law.
Last week, the Parliament of Portugal rejected, as planned, the budget law presented by the socialist government of Prime Minister António Costa, who did not finally win the support of the rest of the forces on the left.
Portugal was already facing early elections after the radical left overthrew the Budgets presented by the socialist prime minister António Costa, adding his votes to the right-wing opposition. The Bloco de Esquerda , the extreme left formation in the Portuguese country, has knocked down the public accounts for 2022 of the Socialist Government in the vote held this Wednesday.
The socialist António Costa has been the prime minister in Portugal since 2015, always with the support of anti-liberal formations. In his first reaction after this setback, he ruled out resigning, but the country’s president, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, had already warned of his intention to use the power of dissolution of the Government in the event of a blockage of the Budget law, as has been the case. the case.
This rejection of public accounts is a novelty in Portugal, it had never occurred since the return of democracy in 1974. By itself, this does not end directly with the Government – the elections were scheduled according to the calendar for autumn 2023-. But the head of state, who is chosen by direct suffrage, does have the right to dissolve Parliament when he does the work of referee in crisis situations.
“My position is very simple: Budget or dissolution,” the president said this week. Budgets have not gone ahead, so the ballot box seems the most likely horizon for Portugal.
“The Government comes out of this vote with a clear conscience and with its head held high,” stressed Prime Minister Costa, who wanted to leave a message of tranquility to the Portuguese, who he told them that they can continue to trust the current cabinet to continue ruling “even in the most adverse conditions.”
