The motion of no confidence announced by Iniciativa Liberal will be the second that the Government has faced since it took office, on March 30, 2022, after having won the legislative elections by an absolute majority.
On July 1, the leader of Chega, André Ventura, announced the first motion of no confidence against the Government of António Costa, shortly after the controversy involving the now former Minister of Infrastructure and Housing, Pedro Nuno Santos, who at the time advanced with a solution for the new airport that was not agreed with the prime minister.
As in the first motion of censure, the Government has the absolute majority of PS deputies to support it, voting the new initiative from the outset in equal parts to the ‘leaders’.
Motion of censure, urgent debate or dissolution of the RA. What do the parties want after the departure of Pedro Nuno Santos?
André Ventura justified the motion of no confidence in July with a set of situations that went through “absolute health chaos”, the Government’s options in the face of the rise in fuel prices, which culminated in the “most politically serious act” that involved to Pedro Nuno Santos.
The president of Chega said at the time that he would withdraw the motion of censure if the ministers of Infrastructure and Health were dismissed, a position then held by Marta Temido, who left the Government the following month.
The Chega initiative failed in parliament, with PS, PCP, BE, PAN and Livre voting against, and PSD and IL abstaining, leaving the proponent voting in favor isolated.
Some five months later, the motion of no confidence announced today by Iniciativa Liberal also follows a case involving former minister Pedro Nuno Santos, who resigned this morning.
In the reasons invoked by the leader of the IL, João Cotrim de Figueiredo, the initiative announced today is related to the fact that, in nine months of government, there have been “11 layoffs, innumerable cases, public services in authentic collapse”, as in health and education, and a “Social Security System that has no guarantee of sustainability.”
“It is a government that, in these nine months, has shown a growing arrogance, of an absolute majority that believes itself to be the owner of absolute power, and also of a generalized climate of incompetence and irresponsibility in the country,” he accused.
António Costa did not see the need to leave Pedro Nuno Santos
Cotrim de Figueiredo rejected that the presentation of the motion of censure is a “political maneuver”, and pointed out that there were other parties -in reference to Chega- that presented this type of initiative from the beginning of the legislature and the IL did not accompany them, nor did he want to “spend cartridges”.
“We think that, at this moment, the matter is quite serious. Nine months is enough time to realize that this government will not, in fact, solve the problem of the Portuguese and does not even have a vision of the country, nor does it have the courage or the desire to carry out the fundamental reforms that the country needs. “, said.
However, PSD, PCP and Livre have already distanced themselves from IL’s motion of no confidence, while Chega said it will “follow” the initiative.
According to article 221 of the Regulations of the Assembly of the Republic, “a quarter of the deputies may present motions of censure against the Government regarding the execution of its program or relevant matter of national interest in the terms of article 194 of the Constitution in effectiveness of functions or of any parliamentary group”.
The Regulation establishes that the debate “begins on the third parliamentary day following the presentation of the motion of censure, it cannot exceed three days and the agenda has as its only point the debate of the motion of censure.”
It is also established that the debate is opened and closed by the first of the signatories of the motion and the prime minister has the right to intervene immediately after and before these interventions by the proponents.
This debate “is organized by the Conference of Leaders”, with the next meeting scheduled for January 4.
“A motion of no confidence is only considered approved when it has obtained the votes of an absolute majority of the deputies in office. If the motion of censure is not approved, its signatories will not be able to present another in the same legislative session”, reads the Regulation.
“Music is different now.” Pedro Nuno Santos says that he saved TAP but TAP did not save him as a minister
Source: Observadora
