Augusto Santos Silva, President of the Assembly of the Republic, announced late this Friday morning that parliamentary work will continue until January 15 – when Parliament will be formally dissolved.
At the end of the Leaders’ Conference, Augusto Santos Silva also left the guarantee of continued supervision of the government. But without fortnightly meetings with the Prime Minister or Ministers (budget hearings remain the same, however). “We will ensure the supervision of the government, both in the phase when the government is fully functioning and in the phase in which it will be under management, using urgent debates, current topics. There is now little point in having biweekly debates with the Prime Minister and Ministers”, he claimed.
Until then, the Board will be fully functional and will take over the daily management after the dissolution. Looking at the calendar, This means that António Costa will formally be Prime Minister until April. However, with the dissolution of the Assembly, this means that from January, management will take place without any parliamentary control.
After the resignation of António Costa, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa announced to the country on Thursday evening that he had decided to call elections for March 10, 2024. According to the law, at least 18 days are needed (10 days to determine the result, eight after receipt of the constituency minutes) until the election process is completed. But if we look at the history of Portuguese democracy over the past twenty years, the transfer of power will take at least thirty days.
In other words, if the trend is confirmed, There won’t be a new government until April 10 at best. This is if, unlike the last parliamentary elections, there is no problem with the results (a year ago the European circle had to vote again due to alleged voting irregularities). This repetition of the electoral law even made it the longest transition process. In total there were three months of day-to-day rule – during which António Costa knew that he had already been elected and that he would receive an absolute majority. Now the government will rule the country for at least another five months.
As Santos Silva announced on Friday, the Leaders’ Conference will reconvene next Tuesday (14th). for the government and the parties to indicate which issues they believe should have priority in the legislative process. This proposal, the Assembly President said, received “the consensus of the Conference of Leaders.” In addition, he stated, the budget calendar remains unchanged, with the discussion on the specialty starting on the 23rd and ending on the 29th, with the vote.
Parties criticize Centeno’s lack of independence
Yesterday, PSD and IL also criticized the appointment of Mário Centeno, former Minister of Finance and current Governor of the Bank of Portugal, as Prime Minister, replacing António Costa, if that had been the President’s choice. An idea that António Costa himself conveyed to the Council of State.
After the Leaders’ Conference, Joaquim Miranda Sarmento, chairman of the PSD parliamentary group, believed that Centeno’s suitability was being questioned. “This is just another demonstration, but much more serious, of the lack of independence of the governor of the Bank of Portugal.” That’s why he said: Mário Centeno must “think carefully about what the independent role should be” of the position he holds. Rodrigo Saraiva, parliamentary leader of the Liberal Initiative, believed that the future of the country could not be “a secretariat solution”. “That was what was most needed to find an Italian solution,” he declared, accusing the PS of “thinking that it owns all this.””. In turn, the PAN, through its sole deputy Inês Sousa Real, also criticized Centeno’s appointment, recalling that it was always against “revolving doors”.
Later, André Ventura, president of Chega, opined that the name’s designation “shows that Mário Centeno was in fact never an independent coach, he was always someone linked to the socialist machine”. “An absolute mistake,” he said.
In response to all the criticism, the PS parliamentary leader, Eurico Brilhante Dias, stated that “if Mário Centeno were asked to lead a government in these circumstances”, he would certainly accept it. “This series of problems shows a bad conscience, especially on the part of the PPD-PSD,” he concluded.
PCP denies interference
Also yesterday, the PCP rejected the “insinuations” of party interference in the process of building the PCP date Centre in Sines at Start Campus, one of the companies investigated and which led to the arrest of the socialist mayor Nuno Mascarenhas. In a statement, the communists say that “the idea of an alleged power that the PCP should have to unblock a process in a municipality in which it has 1 in 7 councilors is fanciful, with the PS having an absolute majority” . Especially since, the note clarifies, the senior technician listed in the archives as communist and with whom Lacerda Machado (Start Campus consultant and another of those arrested on Tuesday) is said to have contacted, “is not a member of the PCP and has no obligation or connection” with the party. “The ongoing investments in the Sines area (…) have been granted reservations by the PCP, taking into account in particular the social and environmental impacts,” they conclude.
Source: DN
