The agreement between PS and PSD for a bipartite presidency in the Assembly of the Republic was the only solution to resolve the impasse in the election of the second Portuguese figure of state. On the same day, the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, dissolved the Madeira Parliament and called elections for May 26th.
Published to: 03/28/2024 – 14:29
2 min
Without a majority, the PSD was unable to impose its candidate José Pedro Aguiar Branco as President of the Assembly of the Republic and it was only after a long round of negotiations with the socialists that he managed to be elected, remaining in office for only two years, and giving then there is a figure on the left. An unprecedented agreement in Portugal.
For the PS, this demonstrates that the Democratic Alliance, made up of PSD and CDE in Parliament, has shown that it does not have a stable parliamentary or government solution, nor “initiative and leadership capacity”. Thus, José Pedro Aguiar Branco, former Minister of Internal Administration in the Passos Coelho Government, won with 160 votes.
Faced with this Central Bloc agreement, the far-right Chega party, said the center right in Portugal preferred to unite with the left, rejecting any understandings with the PSD.
“Today, Luís Montenegro chose and had no doubts: the path is to govern with the PS, to make an agreement with the PS. Luís Montenegro, face to face I tell you: you will govern with the PS, because you won’t count on Chega in this political cycle”, said André Ventura.
Dissolution of the Madeira Parliament
On the same day as the imbroglio in the Assembly of the Republic, the President of the Republic of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, met the State Council and decided to dissolve the Madeira parliament and call early elections for May 26th.
The Council of State “gave a favorable opinion, by a majority of voters, to the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of Madeira”.
“The President of the Republic thus decided to dissolve the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of Madeira and schedule the elections for May 26, 2024, having signed the respective decree, immediately endorsed by the acting Prime Minister”, can be read in the note published on the Portuguese President’s website.
The leader of the PSD/Madeira and resigning president of the Regional Government, Miguel Albuquerque, reiterated today that he was capable of continuing to lead the current executive, but assured that the party has no problem going to elections.
The Government of Madeira, part of the PSD/CDS-PP coalition, with the parliamentary support of the PAN, has been in management since the beginning of February, after the president of the executive resigned from his position after being accused as part of a process in which suspected corruption in the archipelago is investigated.
Listen to Miguel Albuquerque here:
JE 5 PORTUGAL _Son Early elections in Madeira in May
Tags: Historic agreement Assembly Republic elections Madeira shake politics Portugal
