António José Seguro was today sworn in as President of the Republic during a formal ceremony at the Assembly of the Republic beginning at 10:00, where he took the oath of office on the Constitution.
Throughout the day, the new head of state attended a series of official engagements, including visits to the Jerónimos Monastery, the Belém Palace, whose gardens will be opened to the public, the Institute of Social and Political Sciences (ISCSP) for a meeting with young people, and the National Palace of Ajuda, where he will meet with his predecessor, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.
Under the terms of the Constitution, the President-elect takes office before parliament on the final day of the outgoing President’s mandate, making the following declaration of commitment:
“I swear on my honour faithfully to perform the duties with which I am entrusted and to defend, uphold, and ensure compliance with the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic.”
According to the ceremonial programme for the inauguration, the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, opens the session at 09:00 before suspending it in order to receive the President of the Republic, the President-elect and invited guests.
Spain’s King Felipe VI confirmed in mid-February that he would attend the inauguration of Portugal’s new head of state. It has also been reported that the presidents of Angola, João Lourenço; Cape Verde, José Maria Neves; Mozambique, Daniel Chapo; São Tomé and Príncipe, Carlos Vila Nova; and Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta, were present.
António José Seguro arrived at São Bento Palace at 09:30, accompanied by his wife, Margarida Maldonado Freitas, and their two children. Fifteen minutes later, at 09:45, the incumbent President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, arrived.
At 10:00, the President of the Assembly of the Republic, “holding the original copy of the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic”, announced that the President-elect is about to make the declaration of commitment. The President-elect then stood and swore the oath on the Constitution.
A 21-gun naval artillery salute followed, whilst the band of the National Republican Guard, assembled in the Passos Perdidos hall, performed the national anthem.
After the reading and signing of the formal record of investiture, the President of the Assembly of the Republic addressed the chamber, followed by António José Seguro’s first speech as President of the Republic.
At the end of the session, the new President bid farewell to his predecessor before proceeding to the Salão Nobre, where the customary greetings ceremony took place.
Later, at 13:00, the President travelled to Jerónimos Monastery to lay a wreath at the tomb of Luís de Camões. He arrived at Belém Palace at 13:25, accompanied by his family.
At Belém, President Seguro hosted a lunch at 14:00 for foreign heads of state and other dignitaries, attended by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa. At 15:00, the palace gardens were opened to the public.
At 16:30, at ISCSP, the new head of state met with 52 young people, a symbolic number representing the years of Portuguese democracy. At 18:00 he fulfilled the tradition of awarding his predecessor the Grand Collar of the Order of Liberty at the National Palace of Ajuda, where a reception was held at 18:30.
António José Seguro, a former secretary-general of the Socialist Party, was elected President of the Republic in the second round of the presidential election on 8th February with more than 3.5 million votes, a record figure, representing 66.84% of the vote, defeating André Ventura, leader of the Chega party.
The programme of inauguration ceremonies will continue on Tuesday, with visits to Arganil, Guimarães and Porto.
The new President of the Republic said today he would do everything in his power to curb what he described as the country’s “electoral frenzy”, calling on parties represented in parliament to make “a clear political commitment” to stability.
In his inaugural address in parliament, Seguro said that, following “an electoral cycle of three elections and four trips to the polls in just nine months”, Portugal now had “a golden opportunity” to find “lasting solutions” during “a new three-year cycle without national elections”.
The new head of state argued that the challenges facing the country make “an election timetable dictated by selfish convenience” inadvisable.
“The experience of the recent past, with two-year electoral cycles, is not desirable. I will do everything to put a stop to this electoral frenzy,” he added.
Source: LUSA
