The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, this Wednesday resorted to the opinion of State Councilor and historical socialist Manuel Alegre to defend that he should not always talk about the power to dissolve parliament.
At the end of a visit to the National Emergency and Civil Protection Authority, the media asked the president of the republic whether a dissolution scenario is now ruled out, regarding the meeting of the Council of State he had convened on Friday.
“I heard Councilman Manuel Alegre say something very sensible a few months ago, the result of his long democratic experience, namely: the power to dissolve is a power provided for in the constitution and therefore the president cannot – as his predecessors of me who did this – say every week ‘I have this power’, ‘I have this power’, ‘I have this power'”replied Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
“[o Presidente da República] if you understand you need to use it, then use it. If you understand that you are not allowed to use it, then don’t use it. Now you don’t talk about it every week,” the head of state defended.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa pointed out to his predecessors the practice of repeatedly invoking the power of dissolution without naming anyone, nor did he mention his case as head of state.
State Councilor and former Vice President of the Assembly of the Republic Manuel Alegre spoke on this issue on April 23, at a party celebrating the 50th anniversary of the PS in Porto.
“The president of the republic does not have to make threats. He has the power to dissolve, if he wants to dissolve, he dissolves,” Manuel Alegre told journalists at the time.
Referring to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, the historic socialist who ran for president in 2006 and 2011, he added: “But he [Presidente da República] will not dissolve, because the PS guarantees political stability in Portugal”.
Source: DN
