In an interview with Lusa, in Brasília, the now senator defended that there are several reasons for Brazil to be closer and closer to Portugal and the Portuguese-speaking African countries and denied there are reasons that justify this separation.

“No, there is no reason. I think we have reasons to be closer and closer to Portugal and the Portuguese-speaking countries in Africa. I think it is essential that we cultivate like our roots, we feed on our roots,” said the former Head of State (1990-1992).

“Our roots are in Portugal and Africa and, therefore, we must always be very concerned about prioritizing our relations with a country like Portugal and with Portuguese-speaking countries on that African continent. I think this is very important and if there has been any failure there was in the conduct of foreign policy in that period, perhaps there was greater attention to these relations “, evaluated the politician.

According to Fernando Collor de Mello, a faithful ally of the current President, Jair Bolsonaro, relations between Portuguese-speaking countries “will improve” if the leader of the Brazilian extreme right is again elected in next year’s suffrage.

“Relationships will improve. Bolsonaro had even scheduled a state visit to Portugal, but the pandemic came and, finally, it got in the way and took us a year and a half, without being able to make the planned trips. But I believe that now, Once this most acute phase of the pandemic is over, President Bolsonaro will undoubtedly pay attention to our relations with Portugal and with the Portuguese-speaking African countries,” he added.

At a time when several political figures and the judiciary were in Portugal to debate a proposal to change the Constitution of Brazil to a semi-presidential regime, Fernando Collor criticized the idea and said that he “does not see” a way for this project to be implemented in the country. in the near future.

Asked if Portugal’s semi-presidentialism would work in Brazil, the 72-year-old former President assessed that this system “does not exist”.

“Semi-presidentialism does not exist, in my understanding. Either there is presidentialism or parliamentarism, semi-presidentialism, this system that they want to adopt, it is a hybrid system that is neither. I am, by conviction, a parliamentarian and I think which is the system that best adapts to the contemporary world we are living in”, he advocated.

“So, I don’t believe in semi-presidentialism, I believe that I must debate and discuss a lot so that we can implement the parliamentary system of Government in the country. (…) With all due respect to opinions that differ from mine, I don’t see how a semi-presidential system can be implemented” , known, in an interview with Lusa, in the country’s capital.

The Brazilian system is presidential, but confers extensive powers on Congress, a situation that, according to several jurists, creates great tensions between the various powers.

This week, in Lisbon, the president of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies, Arthur Lira, did not guarantee that the bill for a constitutional amendment that allows the country to change from a presidential system to semi-presidentialism will be approved in 2022, admitting that it could be in force in 2026.

However, according to Lira, the discussion “will start in 2021”, since “there is already a PEC [emenda constitucional] to introduce “.

Former Brazilian President Michel Temer proposed on Wednesday that a referendum be held to vote on the shift to a semi-presidential regime, during the 2022 presidential advantages.

“The entire National Congress wants to vote and I think that today there is a favorable climate for an eventual vote” a favor of semi-presidentialism in Brazil, said Michel Temer, in a statement to Lusa, in Lisbon, who defends that a constitutional amendment should be requested for consultation popular.

In the opinion of Temer, who is also a constitutionalist, deputies can pass a bill by April of next year “to submit it to a popular referendum and enter into force in 2026”, at the end of the next presidential term.

Present in Portugal for the Legal Forum in Lisbon, Temer met with Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa on Tuesday, with whom he discussed this proposal to change the political regime in Brazil.