Luís Montenegro meeting PS leader – irritating CHEGA even further
The ‘impasse’ on the first day of parliament over who should be its president persists this morning, with PSD leader and ‘prime minister in waiting’ Luís Montenegro in talks with PS counterpart Pedro Nuno Santos, in what is seen as a bid to ‘come up with a more consensual name’.
Out goes former defence minister José Pedro Aguiar Branco, and in (hopefully) will come a figure that both main parties can agree on (see update below!).
But the move has served to irritate CHEGA further.
This whole unedifying beginning to a new political cycle has been engineered by CHEGA which appears to have led certain members of the AD (PSD/ CDS alliance) into believing it would vote ‘with’ the government due to take office next week, but then decided it wouldn’t.
CHEGA’s ‘plan’ appears to be to force AD’s hand in coming to some kind of ‘firm agreement’ to govern – an agreement PSD leader and ‘head of the alliance’, Luís Montenegro, has always said ‘will never happen’.
As to the meeting between Montenegro and Pedro Nuno Santos this morning, CHEGA’s André Ventura has reacted that “the PSD prefers to meet with the PS than with CHEGA”, and accused both parties of being more concerned about themselves, in-house cronyism (“tachos”) and holding on to the ways of the past.
Commentators are having a field day, and right now, anything is possible: PSD could end up ‘throwing their weight behind Francisco Assis’, venture some – or the PS could agree to support a new candidate put up by the centre-right.
All was expected to come more clear from 11am (when the parties were due to produce their candidates for the role which must clear 116 votes to be elected). Voting was due at midday.
But all that changed through the course of the morning, with the deadline for parties even producing their candidates extended until 2pm.
When the 4th vote will take place is really anyone’s guess (but reports shortly before midday were suggesting 3pm).
An elegant beginning to a new political cycle, this isn’t.
President Marcelo this far has kept quiet: he is busy today trying to resolve the political ‘crisis’ in Madeira.
UPDATE: Just before 1pm, Expresso reports that there is a form of ‘white smoke’, in as much as PSD and PS have come up with a kind of ‘shared’ presidency, to be divided between José Pedro Aguiar Branco and Francisco Assis.
Whether this solution ‘works’ remains to be seen. Right now, voting appears to be set for 3pm today.
