Portugal in political crisis. What changes in our lives if there is only a budget in June? – National
With the State Budget for 2022 (SO 22) failed in the assembly with votes against PSD, CDS, IL, Chega, BE and PCP, Portugal is plunged into a political crisis that leaves the country on hold for several months. At this stage, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa will hear from all parties with a parliamentary seat with a view to dissolving the Assembly of the Republic and scheduling advance notices.
On the table is a single date: February 6, 2022. This means that only then will a new government be known which, after being formed, will have to prepare a new SO 2022.
Once elaborated, the cycle is repeated: the document will have to be presented again at the assembly, approved in general, discussed in the specialty – where the measure will be voted – and decided on as a whole. In total, we are talking about a process that will take about two months. It is therefore expected that the new document will enter into force either at the end of May or at the beginning of June.
Until then, and since António Costa’s government has already made it known that it would not resign, Portugal will be governed in twelfths – that is, with the State Budget approved for 2021 and without access to European funds.
In this type of governance, “the monthly execution of ongoing programs cannot exceed the twelfth of the total expenditure of the mission on an organic basis”, is read in the Budget Framework law that is currently in force.
See how prior updates are actually scheduled for February 6, as all-party election campaigns are expected to start in the last week of January.
This is a more consensual fact in the current political panorama, as it allows time for the parties to prepare their campaigns and allows the PSD to decide its new leadership (with Paulo Rangel facing Rui Rio), as obtained the “Morning mail”.
Despite the lead of the OE 22, a Portuguese constitution does not dictate that the marking of advance notices is mandatory, which is an express wish of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
In fact, the government has the possibility of preparing a new proposal for the SO 22 and submitting it for parliamentary consideration. But since it is not guaranteed to pass, the President of the Republic made it known that he would dissolve the assembly.