Portugal goes to the first elections on May 18th

Portugal Will celebrate again Elections of 18 MayAs announced by the President of the Republic in a declaration to the nation this Thursday evening, after the meeting of the Council of State that took place this afternoon at the Belém Palace. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa The Assembly of the Republic will dissolve And call the first elections.

This will be the Third dissolution of Parliament In Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa’s presidential mandate. Although most of the games were in favor of the first appointment, the President of the Republic was sensitive to different topics, including the fact that the 11 will be there Pellegrini on the road to Fatima and the football match between Benfica and SportingWhich could be decisive to determine those who win the championship.

In a 10 -minute speech, the head of state has started to warn that “the world has changed immensely in recent months” and “will change more”. ” The United States seem to remove its European allies, the European Union must join even more“And” avoid being US with without the United States and Russia.

“Portugal has been able to balance its accounts, reduce its external debt, attract new projects, improve its qualifications with financial agencies,” he praised. Marcelo then launched a question: “Because the government announced and submitted the Motion of Trust And the opposition rejected it?

In it Center of the problemhe said, there was confidence that the government deserved to continue to govern. On the one hand, the government said that the prime minister had always respected the law and ethics, while on the other, the opposition said that there may have been lack of respect for these principles.

The government, said Marcelo, understood that he prolonged this “shock of judgments“I would have” impossible to continue to govern “, so it was” essential “to speak parliament and, therefore, if necessary, the people.

“This clash, not only legal or political, but above all of the ethical and moral judgments on a person and their honor, has raised a new problem: All efforts to get there AND The agreement, although minimal, was impossible“He summarized.

Underlining that “the agreement was impossible,” said the President of the Republic The parties had aligned themselves to ask for early choices. “The same was the unanimous opinion of the Council of State, who did not want it, but had to accept the exit because of reality,” he recognized.

Before these quarterly elections in five years, that “nobody expected or wanted”, now there will be two months of debate, said Marcelo, considering that it is “Inevitable” that the question of the crisis is part of this debate.

Also so, it is important that the parties present proposals on the life of the Portuguese, the economy, employment, control of inflation, wages, health, education, housing construction and justice, said. All in the framework of A difficult international situationhe underlined. The head of state also expressed its desire that the transition is “if possible peaceful as the one lived in 2024”, although there are fewer months between the fall of the government and the first elections.

What is necessary, he said, is not only a “light, front, illuminating, dignified” debate, but also that “respects the difference and pluralism” e “Do not open the door to the experiments that we already know how they start and how they end”. In a final message, the President of the Republic said that it is important that “the debate gives strength to those who will represent us in Parliament and regulates” and also “to democracy”. “And with it, its ability to face and overcome the crises, which only democracy has, non -dictatorship,” he concluded.

The president told Montenegro that he was against the motion of trust

The meeting of Council of State To analyze the political crisis after the resignation of the government, which began at 15:10 with some absences at the table, ended at 17:40. At the exit, as is traditional, no consultant made statements about the meeting. However, according to the information of the sources present at the meeting, cited by various national media, the president would have told the directors that I did not agree with the government’s strategy to present a motion of trust And who worried about the prime minister before voting.

The members of the Council of State, per inherence, are the president of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, the Prime Minister, Luís MontenegroThe president of the Constitutional Court, José João Abrantes, the civic defender, Maria Lúcia Amaral, the presidents of the regional governments and former presidents of the Republic. This consultative body of this president also includes Five citizens appointed by the Head of State and five chosen by the Assembly of the Republic.

The current five members appointed by the President of the Republic are Leonor Beleza, Lídia Jorge, Joana Carneiro, António Lobo Xavier and Luís Marques Mendes e Directors elected by Parliament For the current legislative son Francisco Pinto Balsmanha y Carlos Mones, numbness of El PSD, Pedro Nuno Santos Y Carlos César, El PS, Y André Ventura, to arrive.

The former president of the PSD, Francisco Pinto Balsemãothe president of the regional government of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerqueand the civic defender, Maria Lúcia bitterThey were absent from the meeting. On Wednesday, the Head of State received the nine parts at Palacio de Belém with seats in the Assembly of the Republic, which unanimously expressed their support for the dissolution of Parliament and the request for legislative elections.

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Tuesday, Parliament rejected a motion of trust in the governmentDetermining the resignation of the PSD/CDS-CP minority manager, one year and one day after the victory of the Democratic Alliance coalition in the first legislative elections of 10 March 2024.

The vote occurred after two censorship movements, which the prime minister survived, requested by Chega and PCP following the Controversy in contacting Luís Montenegro And the company of his family, spinumviva. The case raised doubts about compliance with the incompatibility regime and impediments for owners of public and political positions.