Lisbon, Sept. 6, 2024 (Lusa) - The president of Portugal said on Thursday that "it is not feasible" not to have a State Budget for 2025, but declined to say what he intends to do if the government's proposal is rejected.
Speaking to journalists after inaugurating the seventh edition of the Book Festival at the Belém Palace, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa said that the implementation of the Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP) and the international situation mean that "there must be economic and financial stability in Portugal, and that includes the State Budget".
"As you can imagine, having a State Budget or operating on twelfths is completely different. Twelfths means taking this year's budget and applying it exactly, divided by 12, next year," he added.
The head of state then emphasised that "there are promises made by the government, which are many and concern the future, which implies a new budget", as well as "there are promises made or already approved, proposed by the opposition, which also imply a budget", concluding: "Therefore, not having a budget, as you imagine, is a situation that I don't think is feasible".
Asked if he acknowledged a scenario of governance with twelfths or if, in the event of the budget proposal being rejected, he intended to dissolve parliament, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa refused to answer: "I'm not going to comment on that. But I will say that the solution of twelfths is a solution that does not really have the strength, the vigour, even the image of stability that, inside and out, has an approved Budget."
"A State Budget for the coming year is extremely important. If it wasn't extremely important, I wouldn't think there was any reason to insist so much on approving this budget and making it viable," he emphasised.
On the other hand, the President of the Republic argued that "the problem is not solved with the amending budget", and expressed his hope that the State Budget for 2025 "will not be rejected" because there will be "common sense from the parties" - which, as usual, he wants to hear at this time of year, in the second half of October, after the government's proposal has been presented.
According to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, "at the moment of truth, there will be the common sense to realise that solutions must be found for the Budget to be viable".
"There will be a Budget, in my opinion, because the world, Europe, the PRR, all point to there being a Budget. On the other hand, because the government is in the minority, it needs to talk to the opposition. On the other hand, the opposition knows that stability is fundamental for them. For them to be the government tomorrow, they really need the situation to be stable because if it's not, they won't be the government either," he said.
In these statements, the head of state didn't want to comment on issues such as abortion legislation, tuition fees or the General Inspection of Finance (IGF) report on TAP.
Whilst praising the role of private social solidarity institutions in Portuguese society, he also refused to comment on the creation of model C family health units (USF) with the participation of the private and social sectors before receiving the respective diploma from the government.
Regarding this edition of the Book Festival, an initiative he launched in his first year in office, 2016, in collaboration with the Portuguese Publishers and Booksellers Association (APEL), Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa emphasised that there are record numbers of participants: "We have 200 or so brands, we have 68 publishers, we have 122 stands. We therefore have an impressive participation from the publishing market."
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