The Parliament of Portugal has rejected the Budget for 2022 presented by the Government of the socialist António Costa, which is in the minority in the House, and opened the door to early elections.
The accounts only received the support of the socialist deputies and five abstentions, while the entire right and the former partners of the Executive, the Bloco de Esquerda and the communists, they voted against.
With the rejection of the Budget, for the first time in the democratic history of Portugal, the steps to follow now depend on the country’s president, the conservative Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who had already warned that if the accounts did not prosper, he would dissolve Parliament and call early elections.
In his pre-voting speech, Costa has already assumed that the country is heading towards electoral advancement and asked for a stable majority for the next legislature. “I am confident that my frustration” and the “frustration” of voters on the left “can be turned into a strengthened, stable and lasting majority in an upcoming legislative session,” said the prime minister, admitting that he is “sorry” the “premature closure”.
Costa assured that the Government leaves “with a clear conscience and a high head” and that will guarantee the governance of the country during the crisis. “I did everything in my power to ensure the viability of this budget, without accepting what I conscientiously consider that the country could not bear,” Costa told Parliament. And he assured that for him a vote against the left is a “personal defeat”. The government, he said, is available to do what Rebelo de Sousa sees fit: “It is up to the president to assess the situation and make the decisions he understands he must take.”
Mario Twitchell is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his insightful and thought-provoking writing on a wide range of topics including general and opinion. He currently works as a writer at 247 news agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
