Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa addressed journalists at the National Coach Museum in Lisbon regarding the constitutionalist Vital Moreira’s perspective on the role of the President of the Republic and the critiques he has faced for decisions made during his terms.
“You will not see me commenting. Not only is he a friend of mine, but he is also a great jurist, a great constitutionalist. We were colleagues during the drafting of the Constitution. He later distanced himself from political involvement, but he is an excellent professor, he was an excellent professor,” responded the head of state.
The President of the Republic noted that Vital Moreira, a retired full professor of the Faculty of Law at the University of Coimbra, “has always had his ideas” and “has always believed that the Portuguese system was parliamentary, and should be parliamentary, rationalized, with a moderating role for the President.”
“The position from Lisbon was a bit different, [the position] of Professor Jorge Miranda and mine, which was semi-presidential,” he added, concluding that “it’s natural for there to be different viewpoints.”
Following this, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa argued that “what exists is great stability in the Portuguese system.”
“Two presidents had two heads of government – President Soares and I. Then there were those who had three heads of government [President Cavaco Silva], and those who had four heads of government [President Jorge Sampaio],” he noted.
The head of state explained that Ramalho Eanes’ terms were an exception due to the historical context: “General Eanes is different, because it was a post-revolutionary period. There were eight heads of government.”
According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, having two to four prime ministers during each President’s term is relatively low: “It’s a great stability, over ten years, to have such an average, which is not common in Europe.”
