An informal meeting took place in Óbidos today to bring all the new government officials together for the first time and discuss the programme.
At an informal meeting in Óbidos today, the Prime Minister announced that the Council of Ministers will meet on Wednesday morning to approve the Government’s Programme.
There were no formal statements at the end of the session that brought all the new government officials together for the first time, and lasted around three and a half hours.
However, after the first group photo with the 59 leaders was taken, while walking through the centre of the town, Luís Montenegro said a few words to journalists.
According to the Prime Minister, today’s meeting went “very well”, and the Government’s Programme “is very advanced and, therefore, will be entered into parliament within the stipulated deadline”.
“There is always articulation, coordination, and writing work [to be done], but we will continue in the coming days. We will have a Council of Ministers meeting on Wednesday at 09h00, at which we will approve the Government’s Programme and send it to parliament,” he added.
The XXIV Constitutional Government’s Programme will be debated in the Assembly of the Republic between Thursday and Friday.
The Prime Minister and the 17 ministers of the XXIV Government took office on Tuesday, 23 days after the legislative elections. The 41 secretaries of State were sworn in on Friday.
“Campaign commitments must be fulfilled.”
When asked today about the decision to return to the Government’s previous official logo, the Prime Minister affirmed that “Campaign commitments must be fulfilled.”
During his campaign, Luís Montenegro committed to reinstating the heraldic symbols on the official state emblem, which his predecessor had ditched for a “more inclusive and secular” logo.
Despite some Portuguese citizens celebrating the reappearance of historical symbols on social media, others criticised the Government for ignoring the urgent issue of a cost-of-living emergency.
However, according to Cabinet Minister António Leitão Amaro, the symbols, which feature on the Portuguese flag against a red and green background, are “essential to our identity, our history and culture”.
When asked if he regretted changing the logo, the Prime Minister replied, “That’s all I need”, emphasising his lack of remorse.
“The campaign’s commitments are to be fulfilled, and this was one of them. I don’t want to avoid this issue. And I want to say to those who think we are bothered by the news being spread about us, they are mistaken,” the prime Minister added.
