The State Council meeting began at 15:30, two were absent

The meeting of the Council of State, convened by the President of the Republic for the possible dissolution of the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Azores, began this Monday at 15:30, with two absences.

According to a source in the Presidency of the Republic, members of the Council of State António Lobo Xavier and António Damásio did not participate in this meeting, which took place at the Belém Palace in Lisbon.

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa convened the political body of presidential consultations after hearing on November 30 the parties represented in the Azores parliament on the 2024 regional budget.

Azores chief executive José Manuel Boleiro of the PSD and the other two parties in the government coalition, CDS-PP and PPM, argued that early regional elections should be held given the prospect of a new leader in the event of a second one proposal for the 2024 regional budget being presented.

According to Article 133(j) of the Constitution, the President of the Republic is responsible for “the dissolution of the Legislative Assemblies of the Autonomous Regions after consultation with the Council of State and the parties represented therein.”

This is the 33rd meeting of the political advisory body to the President of the Republic, mandated by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

The Council of State is headed by the head of state and consists, in essence, of persons holding the positions of the President of the Assembly of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the President of the Constitutional Court, the Ombudsman, the heads of regional governments and former presidents. Republic.

According to the provisions of the Constitution, this consultative body also includes five citizens appointed by the Head of State – António Lobo Xavier, Luis Márquez Mendes, Leonor Belesa, Antonio Damasio and Lydia Jorge – and five citizens elected by the Assembly of the Republic, who are currently Carlos Cesar. Manuel Alegre, António Sampaio da Novoa, Francisco Pinto Balseman and Miguel Cadille.

The Azores budget proposal was largely rejected on November 23, with PS, BE and IL voting against and Chega and PAN abstaining, receiving only positive votes from the three parties that make up the regional government, PSD, CDS-PP. and PPM, as well as independent MP Carlos Furtado, former Chega.

Article 15 of Law 79/98 on the Framework Budget of the Autonomous Region of the Azores provides that if the Regional Legislative Assembly does not approve the region’s budget proposal, “the regional government must submit to the Regional Legislative Assembly a new budget proposal for the relevant economic year within 90 days from day of deviation.”

The president of the regional government of the Azores began by announcing that the executive intended to present a new budget proposal, but later said it would be futile and said “the people need to be given a voice” to achieve governance. solution “with stability”.

The executive, led by José Manuel Bolheiro, no longer enjoys the support of the parliamentary majority, since in March this year one of the two deputies elected by Chega became independent, and the Liberal Initiative MP violated the relevant agreement on parliamentary influence.

The PSD/CDS-PP/PPM coalition government maintains a parliamentary protection agreement with Chegi’s now sole deputy in the Azores parliament.

In the regional elections of 25 October 2020, the PS lost the absolute majority it had 20 years ago in the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Azores, despite remaining the party with the most votes, electing 25 deputies out of 57. BE elected 2 deputies, PAN 1 , while the CDU elected no one.

On the right flank, the SDS elected 21 deputies, the SDS-PP – 3, Chegu – 2, one of whom has since become independent, the PPM – also 2 and the Liberal Initiative, which formed a majority that has since disintegrated.