André Kosters / Lusa
The President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
Head of State does not intend to go against the law that allows the breakdown of parishes. Proximity to municipal elections, after all, is not a reason for a veto.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa came deny the news initially reported by the Observer that it does not accept changes within local authorities in a year of local elections.
This Sunday, the newspaper takes a 4-year-old position with the President of the Republic, who in 2021 would not want changes of this type less than a year away from local authorities.
But Marcelo, who in 2012 criticized Miguel Relvas’ administrative reform as a process “done with a sledgehammer”, “does not understand the reason for this information”he tells , and he does not intend to go against the law he enacted and prevent the process of desegregation of parishes, even though we are just a few months away from the municipal elections, scheduled for the autumn.
“I have no intention of questioning the law in question“, guaranteed the head of state, clarifying that he will not veto the processes of desegregation of the 124 parish unions, which will be discussed in the Assembly of the Republic on the 17th.
The legislation provides that unbundling can be approved up to six months before the electionsas long as they meet the legal criteria. Thus, if the decrees are sent to Belém before the March deadline, Marcelo will have no basis to veto or promulgate them. “It doesn’t make sense” to make such a request to the STF, says the president.
In 2021, when promulgating the legal regime for the creation, modification and extinction of parishes, Marcelo considered that it included measures that would ensure “greater stability”, such as the maintenance of new parishes for at least three terms and restrictions on the successive renewal of terms. At the time, he highlighted that the law would only come into force after the 2021 elections, avoiding an immediate electoral impact.
The ongoing desegregation process has generated controversy, with doubts raised by members of Parliament, particularly from the PSD, regarding the legality of the separation of some parishes, which may not meet the required criteria. The working group excluded 66 processes for failing these requirements, but 124 remain under analysis, recalls Público.
