The Portuguese president dissolves parliament and holds elections

President of Portugal, Marcelo Rebello de Sousa, Officially signed today to dissolve parliament and hold early elections on January 30.

The signing of the decree was announced by the president in a statement a month after the head of state announced to the nation that a general election would be called on January 30.

Rebello de Souza waited for the deadline set by law to dissolve parliament, which ended this Sunday, allowing time for the chamber to implement the most pending legislative initiatives, such as the euthanasia law. Anti-corruption measures.

Parliament was dissolved after the 2022 budget was presented Government Antonio Costa’s Socialist Party was rejected in the chamber at the end of November, gaining votes against his former allies, the Left Communists and Blaco and the entire right.

Faced with this situation, the President decided that the best solution would be to call an election to end the siege in the middle of the legislature.

“Giving the word back to the people is a part of the life of democracy,” Rebello Sosa said on November 4, announcing to the nation that there would be elections.

The election campaign is scheduled to take place on January 30, to coincide with the Christmas season.

The Costa Socialist Party, which is running for prime minister again, favored a referendum, although no one has a clear majority and predicts that negotiations will be necessary.

Costa has been prime minister since 2015, despite not being the most-voted party of the Socialists – the PSD (center-right) – thanks to parliamentary deals with left-wing parties that allowed him. The legislature should last for four years.

In 2019, the Socialists won the election but were left with eight representatives from the absolute majority, and Costa decided to rule alone without agreements, negotiating on the basis of the criteria, and this strategy was exhausted two years later.