President to chair meeting designed as ‘catch-up’ on PRR spending, among others
In one of the longest ‘withdrawals’ of a government beaten in an election, Portugal’s outgoing Socialist executive will be meeting today for an extraordinary Council of Ministers – to be ‘chaired’ as a matter of symbolism by President of the Republic Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, and designed to ‘catch up’ on delayed PRR (Plan for Recovery and Resilience) spending, among other last minute matters.
As well as the state of play of the implementation of the PRR, the meeting will also see the culmination of the legislative process for the reform of rural property and the diploma on the career of scientific research and higher education teachers in the private sector, which has been in public consultation and will be ready for negotiation with the unions, writes Lusa.
The new model for cultural patronage and the National Strategy for the Integration of Homeless People (ENIPSSA) are other pieces of legislation reportedly on the agenda.
President Marcelo’s role as chairperson in the meeting – the first Council of Ministers to be held in the new government building in the former Caixa Geral de Depósitos premises – comes at the invitation of outgoing prime minister António Costa, and as widely seen as closing “eight years of happy cohabitation” between the two men of different political persuasions.
In 2016, António Costa extended a similar invitation to former president Aníbal Cavaco Silva, at the end of his presidential term, at which time the Council of Ministers was exclusively dedicated to maritime affairs and was held at the São Julião da Barra Fort in Oeiras.
According to Article 133 of the Constitution, the President of the Republic has the power to “preside over the Council of Ministers when the Prime Minister so requests”.
The outgoing PM’s agenda today also includes a meeting, at 4pm, with the Independent Technical Commission (CTI) and the chairman of the Monitoring Commission, at which António Costa will be given the final report of the assessment of the strategic options for increasing airport capacity in the Lisbon region.
Last week, the Monitoring Committee of the CTI’s work on the new airport gave a favorable opinion on the final report, which was opposed by the Santarém City Council. And a few days previously, the CTI published the final report of the strategic environmental assessment of the new airport, maintaining the recommendation of a single solution in Alcochete or Vendas Novas, but pointing out that Humberto Delgado + Santarém “could be a solution”.
PSD social democrats, whose leader Luís Montenegro is also ‘Portugal’s prime minister’, decided a few months ago to set up an internal working group to analyse the location of Lisbon’s new airport, after agreeing with PS Socialists to set up a CTI to carry out the strategic environmental assessment.
Mr Montenegro has guaranteed that the decision will be taken “in the first few days” of his government, due to take office on April 2.
These last few days in Portuguese politics have been particularly surreal. Luís Montenegro was appointed prime minister by President Marcelo in the early hours of Thursday morning, but António Costa has continued to be referred to as “the prime minister” – to the extent that popular satirical programme Isto é Gozar com Quem Trabalha has quipped that perhaps the country should have even more prime ministers, as this might help when it comes to votes in Europe… ND
Source material: LUSA
