Rebelo de Sousa welcomes the parties with early elections as the most likely scenario in Portugal

2023-11-08 14:51:22

MADRID, 8 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –

The president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, began this Wednesday to listen to the parties with parliamentary representation after the resignation a day earlier of António Costa as prime minister, with the calling of early elections as the most possible scenario.

The first to be received at the Belém Palace, in Lisbon, by Rebelo de Sousa was the only representative of Livre in the Assembly, Rui Tavares. The round of dialogue is expected to last until late in the afternoon, with the Socialist Party being the last parliamentary force to meet with the president.

Already on Thursday, Rebelo de Sousa will meet with the Council of State – where Costa himself is located – and after which he will address the country to announce the next step that will mark the most immediate course of Portuguese politics.

Tavares has not gone into details about the content of the meeting and has refrained from conveying any impression that the head of state may or may not have conveyed. “We have not asked or demanded anything,” he said.

In the event that Rebelo de Sousa dissolves Parliament and calls elections, Tavares has indicated that they should be held “as soon as possible” since “it is not in the country’s interest to prolong a situation of uncertainty.”

“Livre does not press for one scenario or another,” Tavares said, insisting on the maxim he already expressed after Costa’s departure, that his formation puts the country’s interests ahead of partisan ones. “We have already seen quite inflammatory statements from several parties and with such a flammable situation we do not need incendiary parties,” he remarked.

On Tuesday, a few hours after the Prosecutor’s Office reported that he would be investigated in a corruption case for a series of energy contracts, which affects some members of his close circle, Costa presented his resignation, stressing that the shadow of suspicion was incompatible with the charge.

Costa, who is not formally accused of anything, defended his innocence at all times, emphasizing that he has no conscience for having committed any wrongdoing, not even any reprehensible behavior.

Early on Tuesday, the Prosecutor’s Office made several searches, including in the Ministries of Environment and Infrastructure for suspicions of corruption in the granting of a series of public contracts related to the exploitation of lithium deposits and a project to produce energy with hydrogen. .

Among those detained are Costa’s chief of staff, Vítor Escária, the mayor of Sines, the socialist Nuno Mascarenhas, and the businessman Diogo Lacerda Machado, a close friend of the former prime minister, while the Ministers of the Environment have been charged. and Infrastructure, Duarte Cordeiro and Joao Galamba, respectively.