The President of the Republic convenes the Council of State to take stock of the country’s economic, social and political situation, after having heard the parties with parliamentary seats between Friday and Monday.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa had already announced in May that he would convene his political advisory body to take “stock of the situation” in the country’s economic, social and political spheres and stressed that it was not a meeting “for the exercise of a power” by the president – such as the resignation of the government or the dissolution of parliament.
“I do not plan any concrete action for the post-Council of State, unless I understand that there is a reason to speak to the Portuguese about a certain matter. This I will decide after listening to the Council of State”, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said at the time.
These statements to journalists, at the Lisbon Book Fair, came after he had expressed a “fundamental disagreement” with the maintenance of João Galamba in the Government, first in writing and then in a communication to the country, following the incidents of April 26 at the Ministry of Infrastructure.
When he spoke to the country on May 4, the President of the Republic considered that the choice of Prime Minister António Costa to keep João Galamba as a minister had costs for the authority of the Government and the State, and promised to be “even more attentive and more intervening on a daily basis”.
In May, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that his intention is to hear what advisers think about the evolution of the economy, “how it will evolve until the end of the year and next year”, as well as “about the social situation and the political situation”.
“It will certainly be very useful to hear the State Councillors there in the Council of State say what they think about economic developments, social developments and also their analysis of the institutions, their functioning, the judgments they formulate”, he considered.
Today’s meeting takes place a day after the debate on the state of the nation, in which the Prime Minister maintained that “political stability was the choice of the Portuguese just over a year ago” and that “it is this choice for stability that guarantees the continuity of transformative action” and the “fulfillment of commitments”.
Last Friday, the President of the Republic listened to the political parties with parliamentary seats, with the opposition making a negative diagnosis of PS governance.
After the debate, PSD leader Luís Montenegro declared that either the government must mend its ways, or the country must change its government.
The Council of State met for the last time on 16 June, to discuss the “current outlook for Europe”, with the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, as a guest.
