The head of state, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, defended this Friday that he must be “an intervening president”, and that the majority of Portuguese would even like him to speak more, as a “guarantee against the absolute majority” of the PS .
“Political parties, political protagonists in general find it uncomfortable for the president to speak in certain circumstances, or the moment he speaks, or the way he speaks, or the style he adopts and the like. The Portuguese think it’s fact that the president is an intervener is a form of guarantee against the absolute majority”to maintain.
The head of state, speaking to journalists at a hotel in Santo Domingo, argued that, “if in a relative majority it was important, but less important in an absolute majority” it becomes even more necessary to “be balanced”.
“How is it compensated? In parliament, yes, but in parliament there is a very clear majority. What is the body that can really counterbalance, when does it make sense to intervene? That is the president. And that is the position of the President”defended.
“Sometimes you like it, sometimes you don’t like it, what are we going to do? For example, today you will like it, but a week or two weeks ago did not like it”he noted, referring to his praise for the government’s measures to mitigate the effects of inflation.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa promised to remain “an intervening president” until his mandate: “I am like that, for a very simple reason, because the President of the Republic has that office, and if he does not fill that office, no one else can fill it, because no one else has the independence of the President”.
The President of the Republic has been questioned by journalists about the statement made by the Prime Minister, António Costa, in Parliament on Thursday that “in other positions people talk, talk, talk, but in the executive you do it or you don’t and the measure of what you do is in the results”.
“This is a very easy question to answer. The roles of the government and the president are very different”began with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, adding that the Portuguese expect the government “to rule, therefore to execute” and the president a role “of control”.
Afterwards, he stressed that “the president is directly elected, he is the only one directly elected by the people”.
“And control means what? Controlling laws, enacting or vetoing them, intervening in more extreme situations, with more extreme powers, in the appointment of diplomats, in the appointment of high posts in Parliament on the proposal of the government, and control by word”gave up.
The President of the Republic has been in the Dominican Republic since Wednesday evening, where he made an official visit for one day on Thursday, before taking part in the 28th Ibero-American Summit, between this Friday and Saturday, together with the Prime Minister, António Costa.
Relations with Costa “are exactly as they always have been”
The president of the republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, believes his relations with the prime minister, António Costa, are “exactly as they always have been”, adding that they are both “very predictable” and will not change until 2026 .
“We are very predictable. I have known him since I was 19, he does not change and I do not change. At 19, a person is more or less formed, and I was in my thirties at the time was already formed”he added, referring to the time when António Costa was his student at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon.
“Until the end of our lives, which means in terms of political life until the end of this common path until 2026, neither he nor I will change”provided.
When asked if the dialogue between the two continues to work well, the head of state replied: “Of course, of course, of course it works very well. Every now and then there are more intense moments, others less intense, but that’s the richness of democracy. Have you thought about the monotony it would be if the president repeated what the prime minister said he also says, or if the prime minister always agreed with the president? It was a monotony”.
At a time when he disagreed with the government’s housing package, particularly with regard to its intention to legislate on compulsory renting of vacant houses, the President of the Republic assumed that there were reports from both sides goods: “But it’s natural. We have different temperaments. Anyone who looks at the two knows that we have different personalities and different temperaments”.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa admitted that “those who have to execute sometimes have very irritating situations which naturally raise more concern”.
As president, I said “in the eyes of the public opinion, he comes across as a person with an easier life”but that “it also has very difficult situations, it also has, because it shares these situations” with the government.
“It’s not easy, because there are times when the prime minister only acts with the president’s support, and he needs the president’s support, and before he takes a step he asks: Mr president, do you know sure, we’re going to do this in politics this? Mr. President, are we going to do this in defense policy? Mr. President, do you think this diplomatic thing is good? What do you think during the pandemic?”illustrated.
Source: DN
