The President of Portugal, Marcelo de Rebelo de Sousa , has set this Thursday for January 30, 2022 the anticipated appointment of the Portuguese with the polls, after last week, the Socialist Government of Prime Minister António Costa, did not will manage to carry out the budget law for next year.
«I have listened to all parties and to the Council of State. I have analyzed the economic and social situation. I have reflected on the economic and financial situation. However, I have decided to dissolve the Assembly and call elections for January 30 ”, announced the Portuguese president in a speech to the nation.
Rebelo de Sousa has indicated that this refusal to the budgets took place in the first vote, without even debate, ” it was not a circumstantial rejection, due to minor discrepancies, but a substantive one.” Some differences, he points out, that “weighed more than the path taken so far and than the current moment”, in full economic recovery, which is “incomprehensible for the common citizen.”
Finally, the Portuguese president has opted for the most commented date in recent days, due to the fear, he explained, that electoral campaigns and even primaries in some parties in full Christmas holidays, could serve as an excuse for abstention.
“The sensible thing is to start in January, not just after the New Year, but still in January,” explained the Portuguese president, who before announcing this date has considered that the Assembly’s rejection of the budgets has not been “punctual” , but “background” in “relevant areas that became insurmountable.”
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The Socialist Party, in favor of bringing the elections forward to the 16th, has indicated that it “respects the decision.” The general undersecretary of training, José Luís Carneiro, has responded to the president’s criticism of the leftist forces during his speech by insisting that they “did everything possible” to prevent this political crisis from occurring by presenting a “good” budget.
The one who has already disagreed with the date has been the Communist Party, considering that it is “incomprehensibly late, taking into account that the situation in the country should be clarified as quickly as possible,” said deputy António Filipe Gaia o.
The Left Bloc, the other formation that took away its support from its former socialist partners, has preferred not to make assessments on the date chosen by Rebelo de Sousa, which has had the support of the liberals and animalists.
For his part, André Ventura , the leader of the extreme-right Chega formation, has described the date of the next electoral date as “acceptable”, although it was not the one that the party liked the most. In turn, he has taken the opportunity to attack the left by ensuring that Rebelo de Sousa has made clear in his speech “who was responsible for the political crisis.”
On Wednesday the Council of State accepted by majority, except with the votes against the representatives of the Left Bloc and the Communist Party – the forces that Costa was unable to convince to approve the budgets – Rebelo de Sousa’s proposal for early elections. , after a meeting that lasted for five hours.
