President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa plans to engage in discussions with PSD, PS, and Chega on Thursday regarding the formation of the future government. On the same day, if circumstances allow, he intends to proceed with a “nomination note” for Luís Montenegro as Prime Minister.
“If the conditions are right, I will issue a nomination note that day. I am working towards establishing stability, which means a four-year term, but it is inappropriate to address what extends beyond my mandate. For now, the focus is on launching for the entire year of 2025 and the beginning of 2026. After talks with them, I will confirm—or not—under what terms it is possible,” Marcelo said after attending a conference on the 80th anniversary of CUF.
The President remains open to scenarios, opting to see the position each party will take.
“One of the parties has already positioned itself as a potential opposition leader, but we need to confirm if this holds true. They might not want any agreements and could lead the opposition. As for the other, we will wait to see their stance. The previous leader identified as opposition upon the government’s passage, and now we will see how it goes. Based on that, we will assess whether it goes up to the government program or beyond,” stated the President.
When asked if he plans to meet José Luís Carneiro, the PS candidate for secretary-general, the President responded: “I will speak with the delegation that comes from PS; they make the choice.”
Regarding the upcoming meetings with the three major parties with parliamentary seats, the President noted the schedule is “already set,” and he will meet them at 3:00 PM, 4:00 PM, and 5:00 PM on Thursday, the day following the results from the overseas constituencies.
On Friday, Marcelo indicated he still had “three very important conversations” pending. He added, “So, we will wait until the 29th for the provisional results of the 28th. We will wait to see who wishes to assume the PS leadership and whether Chega rises to become the second party and leader of the opposition or not.”
When queried about the dermatologist who earned 400,000 euros for ten Saturdays of work at Santa Maria Hospital and the UK incident during the Liverpool football championship celebrations, Marcelo stated he lacks sufficient data to comment.
“I will investigate,” he assured.
