Speech delivered by the President of the Government - Communication

Presidência do Governo Regional

Full text of the speech delivered today by the President of the Government, José Manuel Bolieiro, in Ponta Delgada:

"Today, I have decided to suspend the entire official schedule of the members of the Regional Government of the Azores from January 21, the date of the official start of the campaign for the regional elections on February 4.

During this period, all members of the Government, regional directors and public managers will continue to fulfil their duties without an official schedule.

Compliance with the duty of neutrality gives rise to different legal interpretations, an example of which is the recent ruling by the Constitutional Court.

This ruling rejected the appeal lodged by the Regional Government of the Azores against the decision of the National Electoral Commission, a decision about which we were notified this Thursday.

We respect the decision of the Constitutional Court, which we disagree with, based on the arguments put forward in the appeal.

Nevertheless, I would like to point out that, even before the appeal was lodged, the Regional Government removed the publications in question from its website and social networks, immediately complying with the recommendations of the National Electoral Commission.

The law does not prevent the Regional Government of the Azores from taking part in public openings or disseminating its activities during the pre-election campaign.

However, this Thursday I also decided to immediately suspend the release of information about the initiatives of the members of the Government on the Government Portal and social networks.

Furthermore, the members of the Regional Government of the Azores will only take part in events to which they are invited by third parties."