The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, denied today that he was tired of occupying the position and believed that at this point “it would be bad” to interrupt or shorten the mandate, given the context the country is going through.
“No, I am not tired of the presidency and on the contrary, more president is needed at a time of more crisis, as is clear,” defended Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa in statements to journalists during a visit to the Rastrillo Solidarity Fair, in Lisbon.
The head of state said he arrived from Qatar on Friday and he had “so many obligations, so many obligations, most of them social,” but said he is not getting tired.
“I never get tired, I often get criticized for never getting tired and other times for getting tired”he claimed.
When asked about the PSD’s proposal as part of the constitutional review to allow the President of the Republic to have a single seven-year term (instead of the possibility of two five-term terms), Marcelo pointed out that this amendment had already been passed by him. is defended. .
“I am not interfering with the question of constitutional revision, it is a matter in which the President of the Republic has no powers and I have defended, for example, in the past, when I was not President of the Republic, and even at the beginning, when I me as a candidate, the best solution would be a single seven-year term,” he stressed.
“However, I must acknowledge that at the moment, with the war and the crisis, it would be bad to interrupt the mandate, to shorten the mandate, precisely because there must be someone who can cope with the crisis and safeguard it by intervening. And the president must step in to guarantee, on the one hand, that the absolute majority fulfills what it must fulfill – that is why it exists – and on the other hand, to guarantee that there is an opposition that can be an alternative, as it is desirable that there are alternatives in the future,” the head of state defended.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa also pointed out that he will be more demanding in the second term.
“I’m. I have already sent a diploma to the Constitutional Court, I can send others.” warned.
The President of the Republic defended that next year will be “the first big test” of the and warned that “as 2023 progresses, the rest of the legislature will also depend on it”. He also said he will be “very attentive to what will be 2023 this year”.
“It is clear that 2022 was very marked because there were elections six or seven months ago. Now 2023 is a test, it is the first big test for the 2024 European elections and these years are fundamental to test how we can crisis and how there are political conditions to implement what the Portuguese want, which is to overcome this crisis,” he defended.
Source: DN
