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Good evening,

In the terms of the constitution and the ruling legislation, and after hearing the opinions of the parties represented in Parliament, I have decided that the parliamentary elections shall be held on 4 October next.

The Portuguese will be called upon to elect the members of Parliament and to choose, amongst the proposals placed by the different political factions, those that better answer the complex challenges the Country is facing.

The Parliamentary elections will also generate the setting up of a new Government, since governmental solutions unconformable with Parliament, electoral results or political parties are not admissible.

All elections are important, but the next electoral act is particularly important for the future of Portugal.

Portuguese,

In May of the past year, Portugal completed the Programme of Economic and Financial aid subscribed by the international institutions and once again gained access to the markets to finance the State and the economy.

However, in line with European legislation, the Country continues subject to very demanding rules in terms of financial discipline and control of its economic policies.

From the very start, it is essential to ensure the balance of the State accounts, the reduction of foreign indebtedness and the strengthening of the competitiveness of the economy.

We have to overcome these challenges in order to promote the growth of the economy and job creation, the obliteration of the sacrifices that still hover over many Portuguese and the improvement of the standards of living of our people.

In this context, it is of utmost importance that Portugal is enabled with political stability and governability in the next legislature. Without these it will be extremely difficult to achieve the improvement in the wellbeing that our citizens so justly aspire to.

After the sacrifices they have been through, the Portuguese have the right, but also the duty, to demand a stable and durable government, which will be capable to pursue a policy that provides our Country with greater wealth and social justice.

In this sense, it is extremely desirable that the next Government is enabled with a majority and consistent Parliamentary support.

This is, after all, a common and natural reality in European democracies.

In effect, if we exclude the particular cases of Sweden and Denmark, countries possessing a strong tradition of political and social consensus, all the governments of the Member States of the European Union currently enjoy a working majority in their respective parliaments.

Some Portuguese may not be aware of this fact, and for this reason I repeat: the governments of 26 countries in the European Union enjoy a working parliamentary majority.

No reason exists for Portugal to be an exception to what is happening in all the Member States of the European Union.

On the contrary, due to the enormous challenges that it is facing, Portugal is one of the European countries where political stability is more than ever necessary.

It is frequent in Europe, to reach stability, for coalition governments to be formed. Out of the 28 governments of the countries in the European Union, 26 are coalitions of two or more political parties.

Political parties are responsible for the negotiation processes aiming to ensure a stable and credible governmental solution backed by a Parliamentary majority.

Interparty agreements, to be sure, are only consistent and sound if they are backed by a voluntary and genuine adhesion of the involved political parties.

In several European Union countries, negotiations were not easy and demanded time, but national interest ended by overcoming the interests of each of the parties involved. The political leaders were aware, beforehand, that a government without the backing of a parliamentary majority will always find it very difficult to approve the indispensable needs for the resolution of national issues.

A short time ago, in the past month of April, elections were held in Finland, a country with a similar political system to that of Portugal. After a negotiating process, typical of a mature democracy, a three party governmental coalition was formed.

If, in 26 European Union countries, the political factions are able to come to an understanding, it is not conceivable that our politicians are incapable of reaching compromise surrounding the great national objectives.

In effect, Portugal cannot afford to add economic and social issues with party political problems.

The experience of 40 years of our democracy shows that governments without parliamentary support have always faced great difficulties in obtaining approval for the measures comprised in their programmes, were stricken by serious political crises and were generally unable to complete their legislature.

The uncertainty over the future of a government, the permanent instability and the continuous threat of the downfall of the executive are risks that, in the current environment, the Country must not run. Furthermore, in the moment in which we live, a moment of great demand, Portugal requires a sound, stable and durable government.

To attain a stable government is a task for which the political factions are entirely responsible, as anyway is the case in all European democracies.

They are responsible, from the very start, to guarantee that the coming electoral campaign is run serenely and with utmost dignity.

In a democracy, the confrontation of ideas and projects for the Country is salutary and desirable. For this reason as well, the party political fight must not be dragged into a senseless controversy or into verbal aggressiveness.

The electoral campaign must be used to inform and clarify the Portuguese; it cannot become a field of aggression which will never achieve a solution for the real issues of our fellow countrymen.

In European countries with sizes similar to ours, the salutary political competitiveness and the assertiveness of each party is not carried out by radical criticism, by intransigence or by incapacitating the adversary, but by respecting the differences of opinions, by highly principled dialogue and by the opening to compromise.

This is the path we have to tread, the path of the more developed countries, where citizens enjoy better standards of living.

In the moment Portugal is going through, it is essential that the bridges of dialogue amongst political parties and the various politicians are preserved.

It now behoves the political parties to present their proposals.

In their turn, citizens will have to assess the credibility and the realism of the proposals presented.

I appeal to the political parties that this electoral campaign is conducted serenely and by clarifying the involved issues.

The future of our Country is at stake.

For this reason, on 4 October, all citizens must exercise the right to vote, freely, conscientiously and duly informed.

Good evening.