Government faces second vote of no confidence in nine months

The no-confidence vote announced by the Liberal Initiative will be the second the government has faced since it came to power on March 30, 2022, after winning the legislative elections with an absolute majority.

On July 1, Chega leader André Ventura announced the first vote of no confidence in António Costa’s government, shortly after a controversy involving the now former Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, who at the time came up with a decision for the new airport that had not been agreed with the prime minister. minister.

As in the first vote of no confidence, the government has an absolute majority of PS deputies who support it, voting for the new initiative from the very beginning, on a par with the “leaders”.

André Ventura justified the July no-confidence vote with a series of situations that led to “absolute health chaos”, the government’s options in the face of rising fuel prices, culminating in the “most politically serious act” involving Pedro Nuno Santos.

President Chegi said at the time that he would lift a vote of no confidence if the infrastructure and health ministers were fired, a position held by Marta Temido at the time, who left the government the following month.

Cheg’s initiative failed in parliament, with PS, PCP, BE, PAN and Livre voting against, while PSD and IL abstained, with a supporter left isolated in the yes vote.

About five months later, a no-confidence vote announced this Thursday by the Liberal Initiative also follows the case of former minister Pedro Nuno Santos, who resigned this morning.

For the reasons cited by IL leader João Cotrim de Figueiredo, the initiative announced this Thursday is due to the fact that in the nine months of government there have been “11 resignations, countless cases, public services in genuine collapse.” , as in health and education, and “a welfare system with no guaranteed sustainability”.

“This is a government that in these nine months has demonstrated the growing arrogance of the absolute majority, who believe that it has absolute power, as well as the general atmosphere of incompetence and irresponsibility in the country,” he accused.

Cotrim de Figueiredo rejected that the motion of no confidence was a “political maneuver”, noting that there were other parties – in relation to Chega – that had put forward such initiatives since the beginning of the legislature, and IL did not accompany them. , and did not want to “waste ammo”.

“We think that at the moment the matter is quite serious. Nine months is enough to realize that this government will not really solve the problem of the Portuguese and does not even have a vision for the country, nor the courage or will to carry out the fundamental reforms that the country needs,” he said.

However, PSD, PCP and Livre have already distanced themselves from the vote of no confidence in IL, and Chega said he would “support” this initiative.

According to article 221 of the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly of the Republic, “a quarter of the deputies do not perform the functions of any parliamentary group.”

The rules of procedure stipulate that the debate “begins on the third parliamentary day after the submission of the vote of no confidence, it cannot exceed three days, and the discussion of the vote of no confidence is the sole item on the agenda.”

It is also established that debates are opened and closed by the first signatory to the proposal, and the Prime Minister has the right to intervene immediately after and before these speeches of the supporters.

This debate is “hosted by the Leadership Conference” and the next meeting is scheduled for January 4th.

“The issue of no confidence is considered approved only if the absolute majority of deputies in office voted for it. If the vote of no confidence is not approved, the signatories will not be able to introduce another one during the same legislative session.” , read in the shelf.