After the debate on the State of the Nation, the Council of State will meet this Friday at 3 p.m. in the Palace of Belém. On the agenda is “the analysis of the economic, social and political situation” of the country.
And at the moment there is doubt whether the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, will raise the subject of TAP for discussion, especially after the conclusions of the report of the Parliamentary Commission of Inquiry (CPI) are published. already known. Moreover, last week, after the final vote on the document, he left the door ajar. As he left the Ismaili center in Lisbon last Thursday, Marcelo said: “My idea is the following: I will read the report and if I have something to say about it, I will tell the Council of State first. And, after telling the Council of State, depending on what I say or not, I say it publicly. the Council of State”. “It doesn’t bother me at all,” he added.
Despite only now being formally debated, the issue has been addressed by some board members. This after several other things in the government.
On April 30, António Lobo Xavier, a lawyer and former CDS-PP deputy, said on the “Principle of Uncertainty” program that there was “a certain drama” in the president’s silence regarding the controversy in the ministry of Infrastructure, involving Frederico Pinheiro, the theft of a computer and the intervention of Security Information Services (SIS). “I don’t know anymore if formal stability is good,” he said, acknowledging that the matter was “shameful” and those responsible “should be wiped out.”. But during the intervention, he never directly defended the dissolution. He said only that the situation could not be resolved “without some other form of rupture”, other than the resignation of a minister.
On the same day, another adviser, Luís Marques Mendes, commenting on SIC, defended that the president should not “throw the atomic bomb” which would then dissolve Parliament. The solution, he said, would be a government reshuffle. Something that Carlos César, president of the Socialist Party, had also defended. “These facts that have occurred should be avoided. The internal coordination of the government has improved a lot, especially with the latest changes, even organic ones. […] But it is important that the prime minister keeps a close eye on whether there is a need for any refreshments, ministry by ministry, sector by sector”, he said in an interview with Público.
On the other hand, fellow councilor Manuel Alegre, a historical socialist, believed that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa would not dissolve parliament: “He [Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa] it will not solve, because the PS guarantees political stability in Portugal”.The President of the Republic need not threaten, he has the power to dissolve [da Assembleia da República]if you want to solve, then solve (…). The critic [ao Governo] it is part of democracy,” he said. The president of the republic defended himself in the idea the day before yesterday when questioned on the subject and recalled Alegre’s words: “I heard adviser Manuel Alegre say something very sensible, the fruit of his long democratic experience, namely: the power of dissolution is a power provided by the constitution and therefore the president cannot and must not say every week: “I have this power”.
At Friday’s meeting, it is already known, the President of the Autonomous Region of Madeira, Miguel Albuquerque, will discuss “the complicated situation” of the island regions. “I think that both Madeira and the Azores are in a very complicated situation at the moment as Madeira is starting to break away from national responsibilities,” he said yesterday. For Albuquerque, some of Madeira’s problems are “transverse to the national whole”. So he announced: “Obviously I will speak out about what I think is wrong, what is better and what needs to be done.”
With Lusa
Source: DN
