President’s New Year’s speech ‘left out’ important message

Ricardo Costa, journalist and broadcaster, has stressed in a short clip today that President Marcelo left out a very important message in his New Year’s speech yesterday, in which he said it was the ‘people’, in voting, who would decide the country’s future. Costa (half-brother of outgoing prime minister António) believes the president should have explained that whatever result emerges from elections in March, the parliament the country gets cannot be dissolved for six months. It is a prerequisite of the country’s constitution, and differs from other countries like Spain, he said, where elections can take place very few months, if there is a political crisis. In other words, the people will decide, but they should be aware of the consequences of their decisions.