The decision to cancel today and Thursday’s sessions was made with “the consent of all parties,” according to the office of José Pedro Aguiar-Branco.
The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Carlos Abreu Amorim, has informed the parties that “by determination of the President of the Assembly of the Republic” and with the agreement of all political forces, these sessions have been canceled.
Today’s schedule included a preparatory debate on the European Council with the Prime Minister, among several other topics, and Thursday was reserved for the government’s proposal on the new legal framework for higher education institutions.
The Government has declared a national mourning for today and Thursday during the funeral ceremonies of Francisco Pinto Balsemão.
Francisco Pinto Balsemão, former leader of the Social Democratic Party (PSD), ex-Prime Minister, and founder of Expresso and SIC, passed away on Tuesday at the age of 88.
Balsemão founded the weekly newspaper Expresso in 1973, even before the end of the dictatorship, SIC, the first private television in Portugal, in 1992, and the media group Impresa.
In 1974, following the Carnation Revolution on April 25, he co-founded the Democratic People’s Party (PPD) with Francisco Sá Carneiro and Magalhães Mota, which later became the Social Democratic Party (PSD). He led two governments after Sá Carneiro’s death, between 1981 and 1983, and remained a member of the State Council, an advisory body to the President of the Republic, until his death.
[Updated at 2:02 PM]
