According to the decree signed this Monday by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and already published in the Diário da República, which comes into force on the day of its promulgation, “the Assembly of the Republic is dissolved” and “elections are scheduled for March 10, 2024.” deputies of the Assembly of the Republic.”
This is the ninth dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic since April 25, 1974, following the resignation of Prime Minister António Costa, presented on November 7 in connection with Operation Man of Influence and immediately accepted by the President of the Republic.
According to the provisions of the Constitution, the President of the Republic has the right to dissolve the Assembly of the Republic after hearing the parties represented in it, which happened the day after the resignation of the Prime Minister, on November 8, and the Council of State, which was heard on November 9.
Today, the opinion of the Council of State was also published in the Diário da República, which states that on November 9, this body, which consults the head of state, “discussed the question of the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic, and there is a connection of votes,” thereby “the Council did not pronounce on benefit of such dissolution.”
Speaking to the country on November 9, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa called the dissolution his “own decision” and justified it primarily by “the nature of the vote in the 2022 elections, personalized by the Prime Minister and based on his own leadership, candidacy, election campaign and overwhelming victory”.
According to the head of state, there would be a “weakness” in “forming a new government with the same majority, but with any other prime minister, therefore not legitimized politically and personally by popular vote” – a solution that was proposed by the PS as an alternative to elections in legislative body in which there is an absolute majority of deputies.
The President of the Republic stated that for “greater clarity and a more energetic direction,” “the word must be returned to the people, without dramatization and fear,” because “this is the strength of democracy: not to be afraid of the people.”
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa decreed the dissolution of the Assembly of the Republic on the last possible day in order to call early legislative elections for 10 March.
The constitution specifies that concurrent with the dissolution a date must be set for new elections, which must take place within the next 60 days. Election law requires that elections be called at least 55 days in advance.
During the dissolution of parliament, there is a Standing Committee of the Assembly of the Republic, consisting of the president, vice-presidents and deputies appointed by all parties in accordance with their respective parliamentary representation.
This is the second dissolution of parliament ordered by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who in 2021 became the fifth consecutive president of the republic to exercise this constitutional power, following the failure of the 2022 state budget as a whole.
In 2021, when signing the decree on dissolution, the head of state published this official act in a note on the website of the President of the Republic. This time there was no note from the president, but only the publication of a decree in the Official Gazette.
Until now, none of the presidents elected in democracy has failed to resort to this tool: Ramalho Eanes dissolved parliament three times, Mario Soares once, Jorge Sampaio twice and Anibal Cavaco Silva once.
As a result of the dissolution decree of 5 December 2021, for the first time in a democracy, parliament was dissolved without dissolving the government and was limited to administrative functions, as has happened in all other cases of dissolution or dismissal of prime ministers at some stage of the process. or by a vote of no confidence.
In the current political crisis, the government was dismissed by António Costa as Prime Minister and has been in power since 8 December. The president postponed the decree making the dismissal official for a month to allow final approval of the state budget for 2024.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
I’m Dave Martin, and I’m an experienced journalist working in the news industry. As a part of my work, I write for 24 News Reporters, covering mostly sports-related topics. With more than 5 years of experience as a journalist, I have written numerous articles on various topics to provide accurate information to readers.