From tomorrow, the government will take over management, following the resignation of the Prime Minister, announced today by the President of the Republic. Until the next government takes office, the current executive branch “may only perform actions that are strictly necessary to ensure public business operations”, constitutionalist Paulo Otero explained to DN. Still António Costa’s team “may perform acts of an administrative nature as well as legislative acts”as long as they pass the scrutiny of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and the courts.
In accordance with number 1 of Article 186 of the Constitution, “the functions of the Prime Minister begin with his inauguration and end with his dismissal by the President of the Republic”. Likewise, the fundamental law states that the resignation of the Prime Minister leads to the termination of the functions of the rest of the government. Therefore, without any political divide, António Costa continues to control the fate of the country until a new government emerges after the parliamentary elections, scheduled for March 10.
Until then, all decisions of the Costa Executive are guided by “according to the principle of necessity”the constitutionalist emphasizes, but it is essential that someone checks what is or is not considered necessary. “First of all, it controls the government itself, since it must limit itself and not act beyond what is strictly necessary,” emphasizes Paulo Otero, adding that this “It’s an indefinite concept” and gives “room for implementation to the author, that is, to the government, or to whoever exercises control over the government.” Therefore, from tomorrow and until a new government takes office, the President of the Republic will have to take charge “You acts of government promulgated or signed by the President”, recalls Paulo Otero. All other government decisions pass through the courts. “The Constitutional Court, if the acts have a normative character, that is, if they are a regulation, if they are a law. Or, if they are not regulations or laws, the administrative courts,” concludes the constitutionalist, for whom “a court may say that there is no need to justify the act”. And if the government insists on a particular issue, against other agencies, the legal battle “could last for years,” even if the government has only been in office for six months, the constitutionalist concludes.
“If the government wants to adopt a decree-law, the President of the Republic does not proclaim it, because it is a legislative decree”constitutionalist Jorge Miranda explains to DN. “Unless the national interest requires such a measure under the circumstances”, the law professor recalls and emphasizes that “it is not possible to say a priori whether this is good or bad. It must be verified in the light of the circumstances and the competent body for this is the President of the Republic, who represents the national interests of the defense body”. In this scenario, Jorge Miranda recalls that the location of the new airport, now that there is an opinion is of the independent technical committee established for this purpose, “a decision of such a serious nature, not only at the administrative level, but also at the political level, is something that a management government cannot accept.”
A week ago, during the penultimate Council of Ministers of this parliamentary term, 22 legislative decrees, three resolutions and various expenditure authorizations, including the “acquisition of emergency medical vehicles by the National Institute of Medical Emergency”, “The regulatory decree was approved that changes the regulation of the legal regime for the entry, stay, departure and expulsion of foreign citizens from the national territory”said the government statement.
It is important to remember that on November 12, 2015, the government led by Pedro Passos Coelho signed the documents for the sale of TAP to the consortium between the American David Neeleman and the Portuguese Humberto Pedrosa. This decision was not stopped despite October 2015. 4 That year, Passos Coelho’s executive saw his program not approved after the parliamentary elections, turning it into a management government.
Source: DN
