Azorean government loses absolute majority in regional parliament

The government of the Azores in the PSD/CDS-PP/PPM coalition lost this Wednesday the support of a single MP from the Liberal Initiative (IL) and an independent parliamentarian who no longer has an absolute majority in the regional legislature.

The IL MP violated the parliamentary advocacy agreement he signed with the PSD after the October 2020 elections won by the PS, basing the decision on the insubordination of the Social Democrats, followed by independent MP (ex-Chega) Carlos Furtado, who also refused agreements with the coalition.

“Today, after all the efforts we have made to ensure that this agreement can be carried out to the end, we are obliged to inform the Azoreans that the IL will inform the representative of the Republic that it is exempt from the parliamentary fall. the agreement that she signed with the SDP,” said Nuno Barata in a political speech at the plenary session of the Legislative Assembly, which took place in the city of Horta, Faial Island.

The liberal MP justified his decision “by the strength that the PSD’s partners in the government coalition do every day so that nothing changes, and by the inability of the PSD to ensure proper stability with its coalition partners.”

Subsequently, also in plenary session, independent MP Carlos Furtado, who previously represented Chega, also announced that he was withdrawing from the parliamentary protection agreement he had negotiated with the government coalition.

“There are violations and lack of institutional respect. Ever since I left the party [Chega] that there are violations. I was treated like a child relative. I will inform the representative of the republic that I will no longer comply with the agreement,” he said.

The three parties that make up the regional government (PSD, CDS-PP and NPM) have 26 deputies in the legislature and now only have parliamentary support from Chega MP José Pacheco, thus adding 27 seats out of a total of 57, so you lose absolute majority. Now the opposition has 30 deputies, not 28 as before.

In response to the termination of agreements with IL and Carlos Furtado, the Prime Minister of the Azores stated that his executive would continue to serve as a “benchmark of stability” and refused to submit a vote of confidence to the regional parliament, as proposed by national leader Chegi Andre Ventura.

“A government that is a benchmark of stability has no reason to be a factor of instability,” José Manuel Boleiro, a social democrat, told reporters.

Moments earlier, André Ventura accused IL of being irresponsible for violating the parliamentary agreement on advocacy and invited the regional government to submit a vote of confidence.

“Either the IL or the independent MP come back and give at least carte blanche to the government to remain in power until October, or it is clear that there are no conditions for the Azores government to remain in power and therefore I see no other solution than elections ”, he defended, noting that “it only makes sense that the elections are held “after a vote of confidence”.

IL national leader Rui Rocha stated that it was the PSD that failed to honor the agreement in the Azores and that the decision to end it was the result of an “accumulation of situations”, committing itself to “make good proposals possible”. who come to be presented.

CDS-PP President Nuno Melo said that the Portuguese “should keep” the situation that is taking place in the Azores, as it shows that Chega and Iniciativa Liberal are unstable and “politically immature” partners.

PS/Azores deputy Vasco Cordeiro, who headed the regional government until the 2020 elections, said that by terminating the agreement, IL handed over a “death certificate” to leader José Manuel Boleiro, who he believed was already “politically dead.”

PS won the regional legislative elections in the Azores on 25 October 2020, but lost the absolute majority it had held for 20 years, electing 25 deputies.

On November 7, the representative of the republic nominated the leader of the regional structure of the PSD, José Manuel Boleiru, for the post of chairman of the regional government, justifying this decision by the fact that the PSD/CDU-PP/PPM coalition had the support that gave it absolute majority power in the legislative assembly.

On the other hand, Pedro Catarino stressed at the time that the PS does not represent “any government coalition”, despite winning the elections.

This Wednesday, a source in Pedro Catarino’s office said that the representative of the republic in the Azores would not take a position on the termination of the parliamentary agreements, leaving the Legislative Assembly to continue its work and “solve the problem.”

From 2020 until this Wednesday, the PSD, CDS-PP and PPM enjoyed the parliamentary support of independent MP Carlos Furtado (formerly Chega), an elected member of the IL and Chega’s only MP, for a total of 29 seats, which gave an absolute majority in the Regional Legislative Assembly.

The Legislative Assembly of the Azores has 57 deputies and the current legislature has 25 deputies from PS, 21 from PSD, three from CDS-PP, two from PPM, two from BE, one from Liberal Initiative, one from PAN, one from Enough and independent MP (formerly Enough).

In accordance with the Political-Administrative Statute of the Autonomous Region of the Azores and the Rules of Procedure of the Legislative Assembly, the regional government may one or more times ask Parliament to approve a vote of confidence in its activities.

A vote of no confidence in the executive branch must be submitted by a quarter of the current MPs or any parliamentary group.

An absolute majority of the MPs present is required to approve a vote of no confidence or reject a vote of confidence.

They involve the resignation of the regional government, among other things, the rejection of the government program, the failure to approve a vote of confidence and the approval of a vote of no confidence.