Boleiro initiated contacts with parties to take office and present the Program

The President-designate of the Azores government has begun contacts with parties to determine the date of the inauguration and the presentation of the government program, an official source from the SDS/CDS-PP/PPM coalition told Lusa this Friday.

According to the source, the leader of the coalition that won the regional elections on February 4, José Manuel Bolheiro (PSD), “began today contacts with parties with parliamentary representation in order to plan the inauguration of the new government and subsequent actions.” presentation and discussion of the Program.”

The intention of the re-elected President of the Executive is to hear the views of the remaining parties represented in the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, so that it can determine the date for the debate and vote on the program of the next Regional Government “taking into account the national electoral calendar” and the question of whether whether this step will be taken before or after the national legislative elections on March 10.

“The President intends to involve all political forces in determining this calendar,” the same official source assured Luz.

The decision on the date of the inauguration and presentation of the government program will be made “immediately after receiving responses from various contacted parties,” he concluded.

From the moment he takes up his position, which is still unknown, the new leader of the Azores will be given up to 10 days to present the government program, and a period in addition to five days to evaluate the document.

“The program of the regional government is submitted for consideration and voting to the Legislative Assembly, which [se] must meet for this purpose before the 15th day after the entry into office of the regional government,” states the Political-Administrative Statute of the Azores, which states that debates cannot exceed three days.

The approval of the Program, which “contains the main political directions and measures to be adopted or proposed,” is one of the powers of the regional parliament specified in the Statute, and until the end of its discussion, “any parliamentary group may propose rejection” of the document presented by the new leader, which excludes BE, IL and PAN.

Each of the three parties elected one deputy to the regional legislative assemblies on February 4, Chega – five, and PS – 23.

The PSD/CDU/PPM coalition won the vote with 26 deputies (not counting the 29 absolute majority), and Social Democrat José Manuel Bolheiro said he would govern with a relative majority.

The new parliament took office on Thursday with 57 members, retaining the same political forces that were represented in the previous legislature, with a total of eight parties.

The right-wing coalition and the socialists agreed on the distribution of positions in the Council, dividing the positions of two vice-presidents and two secretaries. Social Democrat Luis García remains president.

Unlike 2020, when the PS won the elections without an absolute majority and the PSD, SDS and NPM formed an alternative government solution with parliamentary agreements with Chega and IL, no agreements were signed in support of governance this year.

According to the Political-Administrative Statute, which replaces the rules of the regional parliament, as Lusa confirmed to party sources, to reject the Program requires “an absolute majority of deputies in full force,” that is, 29 elected representatives (out of a total of 57), five more than the declared total the number of MPs from both parties who voted against.

The regional elections on February 4 followed the rejection in November of proposals for the region’s plan and budget for this year due to the abstention of Chegi and PAN and votes against PS, IL and BE. The situation led to the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, dissolving parliament and calling early elections.