The new government of the Azores, formed from a coalition of PSD, CDS-PP and PPM, chaired by Social Democrat José Manuel Bolheiro, will take office this Monday in front of the regional parliament in a ceremony scheduled for 15:00 (16:00 in Lisbon) in the city from Horta.
The session, which marks the start of the new legislature after early regional elections on February 4 in which the SDS/CDU-PP/PPM coalition won but without an absolute majority, will allow most of the previous rulers to return to office. without major changes in the executive structure.
The President of the appointed government announced on Friday, after handing over a list of names to the representative of the Republic of the Azores, Pedro Catarino, the full composition of the new executive body, the main innovation of which is the departure of Pedro Faria. e Castro from the Regional Undersecretariat of the President and the entry of Paulo Estevan, leader of the PPM in the Azores, who will take up the position of Secretary for Parliamentary and Community Affairs.
Another change in the new executive list is the entry of Mario Rui Piño, until now Regional Director for Maritime Policy, to replace Manuel São João in the Regional Secretariat for Maritime and Fisheries.
The remaining government officials retain the same portfolios: José Manuel Bolheiro as President of the Government; Arthur Lima (CDS-PP leader) as vice president; Duarte Freitas from the Regional Secretariat of Finance, Planning and Public Administration; Sofia Ribeiro from the Regional Secretariat for Education, Culture and Sports; Monica Seydi from the Regional Secretariat of Health and Social Welfare; Antonio Ventura from the Regional Secretariat for Agriculture and Food; Berta Cabral from the Regional Secretariat for Tourism, Mobility and Infrastructure; Maria Joao Carreiro from the Regional Secretariat for Youth, Housing and Employment; and Alonso Miguel from the Regional Secretariat for Environment and Climate.
After taking office, the executive director of the SDS/SDS-PP and NPM coalition is given ten days to present to the Regional Assembly a government program – a document containing the main policies and measures to be proposed to the entire legislative body.
According to the Political-Administrative Statute of the Azores, the discussion of the government program must take place no later than the 15th day after the assumption of office by the executive, and the discussion of the document “cannot exceed three days.”
Before the end of the debate, any parliamentary group can propose rejection of the executive’s program, and approval of this rejection requires an absolute majority and “implies the resignation of the government.”
The PS, the largest opposition party, has already announced that it will vote against the government program, as does the only deputy of the BU, and the parliamentary representations of IL and PAN will comment only after reading the document.
Chega, the third-largest political force in the Azores with five MPs, is making the direction of its vote dependent on a possible understanding with the PSD, the largest party in the coalition.
José Manuel Bolheiro said on the night before the elections that he would govern with a “relative majority” without forming government coalitions with any other political force, despite the fact that the coalition elected only 26 of the 57 regional deputies, three fewer. than 29 were needed to obtain an absolute majority.
The Socialist Party elected 23 deputies, Chegu five, BE, IL and PAN one each.
The February 4 elections took place after 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, a situation that led the President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to dissolve parliament and call early elections.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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