Hugo Soares took this position, in statements on SIC Notícias, regarding the elections that have already been postponed several times for the State Council, Ombudsman and Constitutional Court. Asked if the PSD wants to make a broad agreement with PS and Chega, the parliamentary leader replied that this is his “purpose”.
The PSD parliamentary leader announced that he will ask this Thursday to postpone the deadline for submitting lists to bodies external to Parliament, but expressed his conviction that the places will be elected in “two weeks”.
Hugo Soares took this position on Wednesday night, in statements on SIC Notícias, regarding the elections that have already been postponed several times for the State Council, Ombudsman and Constitutional Court, among other bodies.
Asked if the PSD wants to make a broad agreement with PS and Chega, Hugo Soares replied: “That is my purpose.”
“It has not yet been possible to reach a consensus between the three parties with the greatest parliamentary representation”, he declared, without indicating the reason for the negotiating impasse and admitting that this delay is neither normal nor desirable.
Positions to be elected
In parliament, since the beginning of the legislature, in June last year, five members of the State Council, the Ombudsman and three judges of the Constitutional Court are yet to be elected.
Hugo Soares said that the choice of members of the Superior Council of the Public Ministry, the Economic and Social Council, the Superior Council of the Judiciary, the RTP Opinion Council, the Supervisory Council of the Integrated Criminal Information System, the Internal Security Council and the National Defense Council are also at stake.
“I honestly believe I am in a position to say with some degree of confidence that within two weeks we will have all the seats elected,” he stated.
After the previous postponement, the deadline for submitting lists was set for today at 6pm and the elections for March 6th.
The PSD parliamentary leader said on SIC-Notícias that he will present today to the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, the request to postpone the deadline for submitting lists. “I’m going to ask for a postponement myself,” he added.
Since the beginning of the current legislature, parliament has scheduled these elections several times, but they have been successively postponed due to the lack of a global agreement between the three largest political forces: PSD, Chega and PS.
“I hope this is the last time”
On Monday, in Setúbal, the president of the Assembly of the Republic commented on the consensus reached between the parties to postpone the deadline for submitting the list. And left a message:
“I hope this is the last time this happens. I hope that with this postponement it will be possible to reach consensus in the presentation of candidates, so that all positions are filled”, he declared.
In these negotiations, due to the current parliamentary configuration, the PSD is the central party, as no two-thirds majority can be formed in parliament without the participation of the Social Democrats. And the elections of the Ombudsman and the three judges of the Constitutional Court require precisely two-thirds majorities.
With LUSA
