The leader of the PSD/Azores insists that the coalition intends to form a government with a relative majority and admits no other solution. Even so, the leader of the Chega party guarantees that he is still waiting for José Manuel Bolieiro to contact him and will not commit to a vote in favor or a vote against the discussion of the Government Program.
The Representative of the Republic for the Azores began listening to the parties with parliamentary seats yesterday and is due to appoint the new President of the Regional Government today.
The PSD/CDS/PPM coalition leaders, who won the elections, were the first to be heard, and the message conveyed was the same as on election night.
“I was clear and objective in this hearing: I would take on a relative majority government, leading the PSD/CDS/PPM coalition, and no more than that was said, because I really don’t accept any other solution than this, which is why I made this commitment of loyalty on election night within the framework of the coalition, which was subjected to elections and won the regional legislative elections,” said the Social Democrat regional leader, José Manuel Bolieiro, who has led the Azorean executive for the last three years.
With 26 deputies elected, three fewer than needed to obtain an absolute majority, and with the threat of the Government Program being rejected hanging in the air, the PSD/Azores president insisted that the coalition had won “an unequivocal electoral victory,” which “gave democratic legitimacy to the political project” to continue governing.
“I remain available to fulfill a democratic mission of respect for the people of the Azores and for the legitimate functioning of the autonomous institutions. I will assume my responsibility, everyone will assume their responsibility. I believe that we cannot impose respect for the proper functioning of the institutions on each other through blackmail,” he said.
José Manuel Bolieiro guaranteed that the PSD, CDS-PP, and PPM coalition were “cohesive” and that there were no negotiations with Chega.


“With my mandate or with myself, I never held any talks during this period, neither before February 4th nor after February 4th, except with the leaders of the coalition. That’s it,” he stressed.
Asked whether he would prefer the Government Program to be voted on before or after March 10, the date of the national legislative elections, the Social Democrat leader said only that he would see “what the calendar dictates.”
“In this matter, I will do so in the interests of the functioning of the autonomous institutions and not in the interests of party politics or even palace games,” he said.
As for the distribution of portfolios among the three coalition parties in a future government, Bolieiro said that the decision will be his and will only be announced when he sees fit, but he guaranteed loyalty to his partners.
“I am loyal to my commitments, committed to the will of the people. This political project does not serve the partisan interests of any of the three parties, it serves the democratic and autonomous mission of serving the Azores and the Azoreans in a governance for stability,” he said.

The decision only after the program
Questioned after the hearing with the Representative of the Republic, the leader of Chega/Açores, José Pacheco, who had said on election night that he would only be willing to support a government if he was part of it and the CDS-PP and PPM stayed out, did not reveal how he would vote.
“I don’t know the government program, I don’t know the members of the government, I can’t comment on something I don’t know. I’m sorry the PS did it,” he said.
The Chega leader once again expressed his willingness to talk to the PSD in the name of stability.
“We want stability in the Azores, we’re open to dialog, to building a government solution, in which Chega also has some participation, in a very positive way and we reject any negative coalition to overthrow any government,” he said.
Confronted with the fact that the PSD/Azores leader had already said that he would not negotiate with Chega, José Pacheco stressed that he had not yet formally received this information.
“I don’t usually take positions through the media or social networks, I take positions with my party colleagues and with what we are formally told. So far we haven’t been told anything,” he said.
If José Manuel Bolieiro doesn’t contact him, the Chega/Açores leader said he will convene the party’s regional leadership and take “a decision, which will undoubtedly be a strong one.”
“Does anyone expect that we’ll get to parliament and Chega will approve, with the blackmail of the coalition, for the good of the Azores? For the good of the Azores is not doing things the way you want, that has a name, it’s called dictatorship. We don’t accept dictatorship,” he said.
Asked if he would abstain from voting on the Government Program if he wasn’t part of the executive, José Pacheco replied: “We can accept anything. It depends a lot on what we’re going to have in front of us, what government program we’re going to have in front of us, what government elements are going to occupy the secretariats.”
“I can’t vote for a government program that goes against our electoral manifesto, that would be against nature, it would be deceiving the voters. If they’re trying to force elections, they’ll be responsible for that,” he added.
As for the demand for CDS-PP and PPM out of the executive, the Chega leader assured that he had no problem with the two parties. Still, he has “a very serious problem with the two gentlemen who are there [regional party leaders], who the only thing they did was to use the Azores to govern themselves, not to govern the Azores.”
“Where were they in the election campaign? In São Miguel, especially, I didn’t see them. They were hiding there. Why were they there? Because they knew they were toxic for governance and for the campaign,” he said.
However, José Pacheco also harshly criticized the regional secretary for fisheries, nominated by the PPM but not the party’s leader. When asked if he would accept forming a government with other leaders from the two parties, he said: “I accept anything and everything.”
“If you think I’m going to lower the bar, no,” he added.

In Diário Insular–José Lourenço, director

Translated to English as a community outreach program from the Portuguese Beyond Borders Institute (PBBI) and the Modern and Classical Languages and Cultures Department (MCLL) as part of Bruma Publication and ADMA (Azores-Diaspora Media Alliance)  at California State University, Fresno–PBBI thanks the sponsorship of the Luso-American Development Foundation from Lisbon, Portugal (FLAD)