The President of the Republic announced this Monday the dissolution of the Regional Legislative Assembly of the Azores and called early regional elections for February 4, a decision that received a positive opinion from the Council of State.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa made this statement through a note on the official website of the President of the Republic on the Internet, which states that the Council of State, heard this Monday, “unanimously gave a positive opinion” on the dissolution. , “The Government of the Republic itself did not take the decision, since it was an autonomous matter.”
“The President of the Republic called elections for February 4, 2024, by signing a decree to that effect, immediately approved by the Prime Minister,” the same two-paragraph note adds.
Earlier, on November 30, the President of the Republic heard the parties represented in the Parliament of the Azores on the results of the implementation of the regional budget for 2024.
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.”
No. 2 of Article 234 of the Constitution determines that “the dissolution of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Okrug entails the resignation of the Regional Government, which is limited to the practice of performing actions strictly necessary to ensure the management of public affairs, until the inauguration of a new government after elections.”
Regional elections in the Azores will be held five weeks before snap legislative elections scheduled for March 10 next year.
This Monday’s meeting of the Council of State, which lasted about half an hour, did not include the participation of Council of State members António Lobo Xavier and António Damásio.
On November 30, Azores Executive President José Manuel Boleiro of the PSD and the other two parties in the government coalition, CDS-PP and PPM, said early regional elections should be held given the prospect of a new lead if a second draft regional budget for 2024 is presented.
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 maintained the 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.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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