Insurance took possession. He will be a “great president” and of “whole Portugal”

The new president of the Republic speaks of a “golden opportunity” and guarantees that he will fight against the recent “electoral frenzy”.

“I swear on my honor to faithfully perform the functions in which I am invested and to defend, comply with and enforce the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic”.

António José Seguro is officially the new president of the Republic. The new head of state took office this Monday and took an oath on the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic.

Around 580 guests attended the solemn inauguration session of the new President of the Republic, in a ceremony attended by more than a hundred national and foreign journalists.

Hannibal Cavaco Silva was present, Antonio Ramalho Eanes no – there was only the woman, Manuela Eanes; both sitting in a tribune where former prime minister Pedro Santana Lopes and former parliament presidents Assunção Esteves and Mota Amaral were also present.

In the same tribune, they sat Margarida Maldonado Freitaswife of the new President of the Republic, her two children – as well as Carla Montenegro, wife of Prime Minister Luís Montenegro.

Also present at the ceremony were Lieutenant General Paulo Emanuel Maia Pereira, chosen by the new President of the Republic as head of the Military House, or European Commissioner Maria Luís Albuquerque.

In the galleries, at least two of the candidates in the first round of the last presidential elections, Henrique Gouveia e Melo and António Filipe, and some close supporters of António José Seguro such as former deputy António Galamba or doctor Álvaro Beleza, attended the inauguration.

Among the foreign guests were several heads of state: the King of Spain, Felipe VI, the presidents of Angola, João Lourenço, of Cape Verde, José Maria Neves, of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo, of São Tomé and Príncipe, Carlos Vila Nova, and of Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta.

“Golden opportunity”

The new head of state, António José Seguro, thanked his predecessor for his dedication to Portugal and promised to be the “President of entire Portugal”expressing respect for the plurality of parliament and ensuring institutional cooperation.

At the beginning of his inauguration speech, Seguro welcomed the Portuguese parliament in the person of its president, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, and expressed “democratic respect for the popular expression of the Portuguese people represented here in its plurality”.

Then, heading to Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, left him a “word of gratitude for his dedication to Portugal and the defense of the national interest” and expressed “the affection of a country that has always felt his presence”, considering that, “whatever the assessment” that each person makes of their mandates, “no one can deny their love for Portugal”.

Previously, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco had said: “Whatever one thinks, with more or less criticism, President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa was the president that the Portuguese needed, from the first to the last moment of his mandates. I think I can say, on behalf of this chamber and far beyond it, with the emotion of a friendship lasting more than four decades, and with the institutional respect of the president of the Assembly of the Republic: Thank you very much, Mr. President.”

António José Seguro stated that he will do everything to stop the “electoral frenzy” and asked parties with parliamentary representation for “a clear political commitment” for stability.

The new president considered that, having finished “an electoral cycle of three elections and four trips to the polls in just new months”, Portugal has “a golden opportunity” to find “lasting solutions” in a “new three-year cycle without national elections”.

The new head of state defended that the challenges facing the country make it inadvisable for “an electoral calendar of selfish convenience”, adding: “The experience of the recent past, of two-year electoral cycles, is not desirable. I will do everything to stop this electoral frenzy”.

“Great President”

Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa stated that António José Seguro will be “a great President”.

“He will be a great President, great, great, and he must have the support of all Portuguese people”, said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to RTP, before the inauguration ceremony.

At the ceremony, the president of the Assembly said to Seguro: “Count on, Mr. President, the loyalty institutional structure of parliament, because the country relies on its institutions”.

“And like so many times in our history, we will all know how to live up to this responsibility”, he concluded.

António José Seguro was elected president of the Republic in the second round of the presidential elections, on February 8, with more than 3.5 million votes, a record number, 66.84% of the votes cast, against André Ventura, president of Chega.