Portugal’s president has called a meeting of his Council of State for July 3rd to discuss the "economic, social and political situation, due to the completion of the adjustment programme, and the Partnership Agreement 2014-2020 for Structural Funds for the country."
The convening of the Council of State may have more to do with repeated calls for Silva's resignation, but already he has said that he will not resign.
The last time President Cavaco Silva convened the Council was in May last year when he urgently has to calm disruptive political bickering over plans for a post-troika Portugal.
"I once wrote that it is difficult to change the attitudes of the political parties. There is a history behind each one of them and there seem to be particular interests that override our national interests. We must not accept this situation, I will not resign," said Cavaco Silva last week.
At that time, the President again stressed the need for understanding, considering this was "fundamental to the future of the Portuguese."
In his speech on June 10, the President summoned the political party heads to an discussion which has yet to happen.
Speaking at the University of Oporto on June 20 Cavaco Silva said the political agreement that he wanted to achieve last year was frustrated "at the last minute and inexplicably" as, "if this cross-party accord had gone forward, the country now would be different and better."
The head of state now wants to reduce the level of edginess, party-political tension and downright aggression in recent exchanges between opposing political parties, “because then, now and in the future it will be difficult to understand."
The meeting of the State Council will be held one week before the scheduled date of approval by the Government of further cuts to civil service salaries. Cavaco Silva is unlikely to get any political consensus as the current administration is convinced of its own immortality and the opposition is becoming more vociferous.
The Council of State is a body established by the Constitution of Portugal to advise the President of the Republic of Portugal in the exercise of many of his discretionary, reserve powers.
The constitution states that it must be summoned by the President in case he decides to dissolve the Assembly of the Republic, declare war or peace, or in case a government steps down. Let's hope it not a declaration of war as Portugal's armed forces currently are not in a fit state to take on anything too onerous.
