By Catarina Demony and Sergio Goncalves
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LISBON (Reuters) – The president of Portugal, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, called on Thursday an early general election for January 30, after Parliament scrapped the budget proposed by the minority socialist government, ending six years of relative political stability.
“At times like this, there is always a solution in democracy, without drama or fears… to give a voice back to the people,” the president said in a televised address.
Most Portuguese seem to believe that an early election, even if necessary, will only perpetuate the political stalemate, bringing more difficulties.
An Aximage opinion poll published earlier this Thursday showed that 54% of 803 people polled thought the snap election would be “bad for the country,” with 68% saying no party could win a majority of seats in Parliament.
The Council of State, the president’s consultative body, approved on Wednesday Rebelo de Sousa’s proposal to dissolve Parliament after rejecting the Budget.
“More or less, we were pretty stable, especially considering the pandemic situation,” retired Leonel Pereira, 66, told Reuters. “If they continued like this a little longer… it would be good for us.”
Marta Amaral, 51, from Lisbon, called the election a “necessary evil”. “It won’t be good, but there’s no other way out,” he said.
(Reporting by Catarina Demony and Sergio Goncalves; Additional reporting by Andrei Khalip)
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