Vasco Cordeiro stressed this Monday that the Socialist Party “maintains its coherence” in the understanding that “the party that wins the elections should have the opportunity to be the first to submit to the Assembly and, therefore, to form a government”.

The President of the PS/Azores was speaking after an audience with the Representative of the Republic in Angra do Heroísmo as part of the decision he will have to take, given the results of the regional elections on February 4.

For Vasco Cordeiro, the decision of the Representative of the Republic in 2020, to remove the party that obtained a relative majority and won the regional elections (PS) from the possibility of presenting a government, places “an increased and special demand and responsibility on the Representative of the Republic”.

Vasco Cordeiro stressed that this situation that “we are experiencing” is “proof that the decision taken in 2020 was not the right one”, stressing that “the whole argument of stability has fallen apart in relation to the decision of the Representative of the Republic in 2020” and that the Representative of the Republic is faced with the challenge of “maintaining coherence” in the face of the results of the 2024 elections.

Vasco Cordeiro reaffirmed the decision of the PS/Azores to vote against the government program of the PSD/CDS/PPM coalition, a decision taken “by the PS’s own bodies” and announced in “due time” on Thursday after the elections.

The President of the PS/Azores pointed out that “the parties that now present themselves as a coalition (PSD/CDS/PPM) were the ones who made a deal with Chega so that, having been defeated in the 2020 elections, they could become the government” and that “the leader of the coalition, José Manuel Bolieiro, was the one who said during this election campaign that he had no problem with the far right.”

“The PS/Azores made its position on the results of this election clear in due course. I don’t think the Socialist Party is responsible for this situation,” concluded Vasco Cordeiro, President of the PS/Azores.

From a PS Press release

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)