Seguro urges dialogue as Council of State meets amid housing protest police charges

Council of State meets on social cohesion

The Council of State began its meeting on social cohesion on Monday, 2 November, at about 15:10, with four absences. President António José Seguro had lunched with Prime Minister Luís Montenegro beforehand, a weekly meeting that was moved forward from its usual Tuesday slot. According to the Presidency, the absent members were former president António Ramalho Eanes, Assembly of the Republic president José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, Azores regional government president José Manuel Bolieiro and councillor Maria do Carmo Fonseca.

Before the session opened, Seguro swore in João Carlos Loureiro, president of the Constitutional Court, and Luísa Neto, the Ombudsman, as new members of the Council of State.

Police charges at housing protests

The meeting takes place against a backdrop of protests for the right to housing in which police charged demonstrators again. On Sunday, 1 November, Seguro asked the government and the Provedoria de Justiça for detailed clarifications after fresh police charges on demonstrators in Lisbon and Porto. Speaking to reporters on Monday morning as he left the Euro-Américas Forum in Carcavelos, in Cascais, he upheld the right to demonstrate and rejected the use of violence.

“Violence is not part of Portuguese democratic culture.”

Seguro said he would not give up on pursuing channels of dialogue and good sense. He has called for agreement between the PSD/CDS-PP government and the opposition on short and long-term solutions to housing problems, and he has summoned the ten parties with seats in parliament for hearings on social cohesion.

Why Seguro has been cautious

Hugo Ferrinho Lopes, author of a study on the presidential elections, links the president's restraint to the way he won office. The study argues that Seguro's victory owed much to a lack of coordination on the right.

“The way António José Seguro was elected can explain the caution he has shown.”

Lopes argues that caution carries a risk of alienating part of the voters who elected him. The council session was dominated by the protests and police charges, according to the reporting on the meeting.

Madrid summit with Montenegro

Seguro is due to travel to Madrid on Tuesday, 3 November, to attend the 30th Ibero-American Summit. Montenegro will also be there, and both leaders are scheduled to take part in the summit on Wednesday and Thursday, 4 and 5 November. Portuguese figures António Costa and António Guterres are invited as special guests.