The visit by the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, and Prime Minister Luís Montenegro to the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who is hospitalized at São João Hospital in Porto, has concluded.
Speaking to journalists after the meeting, Aguiar-Branco assured that Marcelo “will work until the end of his term.”
“He was in good spirits, optimistic, the President we all know, with the energy for what will be the work in the coming weeks. Very well cared for. Looking well. We can be satisfied because we will surely have the President working until the end of his term,” he affirmed, adding that Marcelo “fortunately still has a lot of work to do until the next presidential elections.”
“We can all be very calm,” he reiterated, recalling that “the President, as we all know, is in good physical shape, good intellectual disposition, and is the President we are all used to seeing. Surely he will still have a lot to work on, a lot to promulgate. You can rest assured that you will not have the president of the Assembly of the Republic as President of the Republic,” Aguiar-Branco quipped, eliciting laughter.
The Prime Minister, who upon arrival brought “a hug from the Portuguese people” for Marcelo, also with laughter, stated that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa “is working well,” as he continues to promulgate decrees despite being in the hospital.
“The President is in good spirits, in the process of recovery,” stated Luís Montenegro, taking the opportunity to praise the National Health Service (SNS).
“It did its part, did so with competence, with the spirit of service and mission that is the daily hallmark of the many thousands of professionals who serve our health system and the SNS too. We know that sometimes things don’t go as well in the service, but most of the time, it’s not like that. In much more than 99% of the time, things go well, and people are well attended to in the SNS and leave with recognition of both the quality of the service and the providers,” he assured.
Trips to Madrid and the Vatican? “Being Assessed”
The Head of the Civil House, Fernando Frutuoso de Melo, revealed to journalists that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was at Sá Carneiro Airport in Porto, about to travel to Lisbon, when he fell ill.
The official explained that “all the points of this week were canceled” and they are “now evaluating” the rest of the schedule.
Regarding the visits to Madrid, Spain, and the Vatican, scheduled for this month, Fernando Frutuoso de Melo said only that they are still “being assessed” and depend on medical evaluation.
The Head of the Civil House of the President of the Republic also said that the President of the Republic will be traveling from Porto to the Palace of Belém in Lisbon by car.
It should be noted that Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa underwent emergency surgery on Monday night for an incarcerated hernia at São João Hospital in Porto.
The surgery went well, and the President of the Republic is in good spirits. If everything continues to go as it has so far, Marcelo may be discharged as early as tomorrow, Wednesday, December 3rd.
