The republic’s president said on Wednesday his main concern about the housing package is that they “go from paper to reality” and admitted he had vetoed whether to send them to the Constitutional Court for inspection.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa spoke to journalists at the Lisbon Tourism Exchange (BTL) and recalled that in the past there were measures related to “some state interventions” that were difficult to implement.
“I’ll give you an example: after the forest fires, there was a very good project [quando os] private individuals had no money to clear the land, the administrative body could substitute for the private, clean and then charge. In retrospect, it turned out that this was not possible in practice because there was no registration,” he recalls.
The President of the Republic emphasized that this is precisely his main concern with regard to the housing package: “that they move from paper to reality”.
“That’s my main concern: they’re solutions where people – whether they like it a lot or those who like it a little bit – wait for it to be applied in the field and there’s no application for weeks, months or years,” emphasized he.
Marcelo reiterated that for now it is necessary to wait for the government to present the final measures, but he stressed that when they arrive in Belém he can send them to the Constitutional Court if they raise legal doubts.
“I will of course do what I always do at that moment: [se] I have very many doubts about the unconstitutionality or someone has – I may not have very many doubts, but someone does – to have certainty of the law, I ask the Constitutional Court to ‘look, declare the legal certainty,'” he said.
In political doubts, Marcelo distinguished between bills – which go to the Assembly of the Republic before reaching Belém – and decrees-law which the president receives after approval by the Council of Ministers.
In the latter cases, Marcelo stressed that “if repairs need to be made” he can propose changes directly to the executive or present “different points of view” and then look for “the possible agreement”.
In the case of bills, Marcelo recalled that “this mechanism does not exist” and that, despite not having vetoed diplomas of the Assembly of the Republic “of late”, it has already done so in the past.
“They’ll say to me ‘but vetoing it if there’s an absolute majority doesn’t make much sense’. No, it does. I’m not going to veto the veto, I’d rather not veto. I’d rather that there is a process that moves quickly… If it is too precise, in terms of conscience, the veto, the Assembly confirms and there is no drama,” he said.
When asked if he was thinking of a specific package measure for any of these scenarios, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa replied: “No, no”.
When asked if he expects the Constitutional Court to work on this housing package, the president again replied: “I don’t know, I don’t know”.
The President of the Republic was also asked if the forced leasing measure could be one of the most difficult to move from “paper to reality”, reiterating that he does not know.
“Let’s see concretely how it should be done. As I once said: is there money for this? Who does it, how does it do it, according to which procedures? With what central and local intervention? Let’s wait and see,” he said. . .
Marcelo thus recalled that the housing measures will be open to public discussion until March 10, which he considered “good” because it generated a very free, very contradictory, very varied debate.
“There was practically no opinion that was not heard, in the sense of some agreed, some disagreed, some strongly agreed, some disagreed a lot or a little. [Houve] who wanted completely different things, who wanted very similar things. Let’s see what the result will be, that’s what’s important,” he stressed.
Regarding the demonstration of local accommodation owners that took place today for BTL, Marcelo stated that when he arrived at the event, he exchanged a few words with them, after informing them that it is too early to take any action. take “because the final package is not known”.
“There have been rulers who said that what was announced will not be exactly what will happen,” he said.
However, for the president, it is “necessary to strike a balance between what the pretensions are” of the owners of local accommodation” and the need for youth housing, the need for housing in areas that are, if not central, close to downtown from cities, or close to professional activities”.
“It is necessary to compensate what the resident tourist is with the resident Portuguese. Therefore, there must be a balance through means that reconcile these interests,” he said.
In these statements to journalists, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was also asked about the General Inspectorate of Finance (IGF) report on the compensation of former TAP administrator Alexandra Reis, who declined to comment.
“They want me to comment on a report that has not come in from the IGF… Let’s wait. Only then will there be a decision from Mr.
Source: DN
