Inauguration speech by the President of the XIII Regional Government of the Azores - Communication

Presidência do Governo Regional

Dear Representative of the Republic for the Autonomous Region of the Azores; Dear Sir/Madam,
Dear President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores; Dear Sir/Madam,
Former President of the Assembly of the Republic and First President of the Regional Government of the Azores;
Dear Sir/Madam, Ladies and others. Dear Members of the XIII Government of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, Government colleagues;
Dear Former Presidents of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores;
Dear former President of the Regional Government,
Dear Mayor of Horta;
Dear Sir/Madam, Ladies and others. Dear Members of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores;
Mr Ouvidor Eclesiastical of the Ouvidoria da Horta, representing His Excellency Reverendíssima Mr Dom João;
Illustrious guests;
Azoreans;

To all, and to each other, I welcome with the utmost respect.

Today and here, in the hemicycle of this Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, in this precise format, which we have consciously chosen, of the formal ceremony held by the XIII Regional Government of the Azores, we are first and foremost adapted to the constraints recommended by health care in the interests of public health.

Because we have taken the example of the reference of our organisation, I now feel the honest duty to extend our cordial and compliance to all persons representing the other civilian authorities and military authorities, which, otherwise, would be very honoured by their presence and testimony at this session.

It is the Political and Democratic Autonomy of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, which provides foundation and institutional existence to our own governing bodies.

And they are our pride of the island people and the cause of our mission.

“(...) The Azores are our certainty, to trace the glory of a people (...)”.

And we are all aware of our commitment to this legacy, which is also our future!

Last 16 this month, the second legislative term of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores began, with the parliamentary composition resulting from the parliamentary elections held on 25 October.

This result and parliamentary composition gives us the increasingly strong recognition of the plurality that prevails in society, and is nevertheless integrated into the framework of democratic unity, which is the sovereignty of the people.

Pluralism expressed in its political/parliamentary and governmental representation.

Dialogue and concertation in the plural unit of government action.

And this new reality required the additional effort of dialogue and commitment to ensure lasting and coherent stability through them.
A government agreement and two parliamentary impact agreements.

Today, on 24 November 2020, the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, with this reality and in accordance with our Politico-Administrative Statute, gave office to the XIII Regional Government.

A clear power of the Legislative Assembly, which also approves its programme of government.

It is therefore not merely an act of great parliamentary symbolism, but rather the true and real expression of our autonomic democracy and our parliamentary system.

Thus, as President of the XIII Regional Government, now empowered, I welcome, also for this structure of constitutional and statutory power, all Ladies and Gentlemen, in the full exercise of your powers.

As a matter of course, I vote for the biggest successes in fulfilling your mandate and commitments.
I welcome the President of the Legislative Assembly. I congratulate him on his peer-to-peer election, as well as on all Bureau members, and, on behalf of the Regional Government, wishes them fruitful political and parliamentary work.

Thank you for your President’s words addressed to the XIII Regional Government and expressed in our name fully willing to strengthen the institutional relationship with the Parliament.

I welcome all political parties that have run for the elections and particularly welcome each Parliamentary Group and Representation, expressing to each of them, on behalf of the Regional Government, their willingness to cooperate, dialogue and concertation in the context of the enhanced institutional relationship with the Parliament.

Legislative authorities are the trustees of the people’s mandate.

The decrease in election abstention was the result of everyone’s work and the diversity and pluralism of this new Parliament is a new brand of our Autonomic Democracy.

And indeed democracy is our pressing hope.

And Political Autonomy is our safe harbour, on this line of land that emerges from the sea.
I want to welcome all members of the XII Regional Government, who leave office and allow me to highlight President Vasco Cordeiro, who has led the Regional Government in the last eight years.

I note the recognition of the availability and spirit of service to the public cause by our Political Autonomy and Development, expressed in the demonstrated capacity for work and performance.
On behalf of the XIII Regional Government, we welcome each other’s best wishes in the new life phase they will start.

Dear Representative of the Republic,
Dear President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores;
Dear Sir/Madam, Ladies and Honourable Members;
Illustrative guests;
Azorean and Sugar;

It is with deep and convinced civic sense of democratic accountability, at the service of the Azores and our Political Autonomy, that I take on this very demanding task of leading the XIII Government of the Azores, resulting from the current political and parliamentary framework.

“We measure the challenges we face and feel the cumulative impact of past years that we can break down. But we do not fear the risks, nor do we fear hope. The force lies in the struggle, the firm struggle for principles, the courage in tackling the crisis.”

I am writing to Dr Francisco Sá Carneiro, Prime Minister of Portugal, who was at times very complex, socially and economically, but also politically.

The political and decision-making centrality in the Azores is now, as it has never been, in Parliament.

This government is done by and in Parliament, with plural programmatic guidance, which respects proportionally its own composition and parliamentary commitments in its respective programme of government to be presented, which unites plurality with common denominators.

In fact and in law, the parliamentary solution enabling this XIII Regional Government is made of parliamentary pluralism, and has, as ever, diversified the alternatives available to our political autonomy, enriching our democracy.

In this respect, we are proud and fully committed.

On the one hand, we need a clear understanding of the virtualities of dialogue and commitment in order to ensure a stable and lasting government.

Dialogue is the wounding and cement of this government.

On the other hand, we require the ability to achieve, in our line of direction, the will of voters to confirm the alternative and policy change.

The parties forming the “coalition” of government will always remind you that the government is in the Azores and the parties that support this governance solution in parliament say that the government will correspond to the agreements and will always be able to listen to them.

The parties that will vote against this government will ensure that our dialogue will not exclude them.
The Government of the Republic, the Regional Government of Madeira, our self-governing partner, local government, civil society institutions, say that we all want to engage with them.

With all we want to build solutions and responses.

We will be able to find common denominators to ensure a course, as we did not need to add to the pandemic crisis, the health crisis, the social crisis, a political crisis.

In society and politics, all are important for democracy. For plurality of opinion, for the affirmation of alternatives, for the civic participation of more and more citizens.

The overriding interest of the Region must always be above — and well above — the partisan exclusivity of the Government.

And the government which has now taken office here and has presented itself, with this mission and organisation compatible with its objectives and priorities, is in keeping with this huge responsibility.

We are available for the plural and democratic debate, with respect for the integrity of the people and institutions, which legitimately represent the will of the people.

A government with a sense of responsibility in defending autonomy, as a democratic self-government solution, which needs to be improved and whose powers should be exploited up to the constitutional limit.

A humanist and personalist government defending individual freedoms and constitutionally enshrined fundamental rights, which recognises and promotes the freedom of private initiative, the role of state regulator and the fundamental role of the family in our society.

It will focus on combating poverty and inequality and supporting the weakest, leaving no one behind.

A government imbued by a spirit of mission: serving the Azores; driven by an unwavering will: do it well; determined to achieve an objective: better governance.

A Government for All, at the service of Sugar, which combines political and professional experience, experience in the sector and the public sector, with an appropriate organisational structure to address the huge challenges facing the Azorean society.

This will be a government of dialogue with society, social partners, trade unions and the living forces of society, as it is to listen and decide with responsibility and opportunity.
The political and government project we advocate is not generation. It is intergenerational.

It is not of reducing geographies. It is from and for the Azores. For our nine islands. For our 19 municipalities and 155 parishes. All equally important.

The Azores need to give more space to entrepreneurship, employers and workers, with more freedom and security to create wealth and jobs, thus reducing the patchwork of inequalities that are not justified.

Our method of governance will correspond to the parliamentary democratic requirement of this new political framework, which also requires social consultation and listening to and respect for the representativeness of the social partners, who are the addressees of public policies.

We will consider and enhance the role of the various social partners and the Economic and Social Council of the Azores as an intervention and influence.

We will valorise, broaden and reform the role of empirical knowledge acquired in the Azores in order to better understand our real reality, inform public policies and evaluate their results.

We will focus on decentralisation and increase cooperation between the regional and autonomous authorities and local authorities.

We will enhance the private economy and productive investment that generates wealth and jobs.
But the government is fully aware of the imperative need to combine priorities with urgency.

The government is aware of the efforts that the Azorean people and their government have to make to successfully face the fight against the COVID’ 19 pandemic.

Tackling the pandemic we are facing is an obvious and urgent priority of this government.
This fight needs effectiveness, planning, competence, organisation, mindset and solidarity.

It is a battle that does not start today, it continues today and tomorrow, until we win it.

On behalf of this Government, however, we are grateful to all health and medical professionals — doctors, nurses, higher-level diagnostic and therapeutic technicians and health aids — for the fight against them.

It is also the right praise of Azorean, who have generally behaved civic behaviour to contain the problem we are facing.

We will do our utmost to ensure responsiveness to the Regional Health Service.

For both covid’ 19 patients and all non-covid patients with a proper plan to resume scheduled activity.

We will do everything to protect our families.

As I have always stated, rather, overly caution than negligence in the action.

We will do everything to protect jobs.

We will do everything to help our businesses, whose economic activities have been hit by this pandemic.

This government will need to ensure a comprehensive strategy for a problem as comprehensive as this pandemic.

It will rapidly revalorise the role of the Regional Coordination of Public Health and soon make the future Regional Public Health Authority independent of the government.

And we will present in due course our economic and financial strategy for post-COVID, bringing back tourism and all economic activities that have been affected in the meantime.

And in this strategy people will be first and foremost because there is no economic progress without a significant improvement in vocational qualifications and education in general.

And businesses and more households will be relieved of the tax burden, with tax relief up to the statutory limit.

A recovery strategy that will be supported by national and European support, but also with a competent, effective and dispartitionalised public administration, including the successful involvement of the social partners, thus targeting people and businesses, unbureaucratised.

Vigorously, the government will use all legal and administrative means at its disposal to take the measures that prove to be the most appropriate and useful in preventing and combating the pandemic at any given time.

Both public health and financial and economic measures to mitigate the consequences for businesses, employment and households.

In this time of enormous challenges and uncertainties for the Azores, the country, Europe and the world, we recognise the enormous difficulties we all face.

They are and will be more restrictive than the benefits.

Nobody, let alone us, is waiting for ease in this time.

What is waiting for us to work!

Times are difficult. We need to be even stronger.

In addition to the economy, for example in health, as in education, we will as soon as possible respect, value and dignity the careers of their professionals. We need to have professionals motivated for a better public service for Sugar, regardless of their social status or geographical location.

Civil servants, which are not of interest to their party, island or sector, can rely on an administration that is respectful, demanding and has the best to give, motivated by a policy that mobilises everyone.

The state needs to be good, more than big, it has to live for others and not for you.

The self-government bodies of the Azores embody the self-governing objective and serve to provide answers to the People of the Azores.

We are here to provide answers to parents and children, teachers and pupils, entrepreneurs and workers, farmers, fishermen, the public, private and cooperative sector, older people and young people.

As we have often said, Azorean should not be afraid of change, yet the Azorean people were not afraid to change.

This will be a government of criteria. Public and transparent criteria, because this is how to combat suspicions, clientelism, corruption, state partidarism and the degovernmentalisation of society and the economy.

No-criteria solidarity creates injustice and the worst injustice is that there is no solidarity with those who really need it.

Combating poverty must be an active fight against all those who can work, those who can offer jobs, those who create wealth and who should share it with fair taxes.

Combating poverty is a strategy and a priority in the fight against inequality, which undermines and drives society.

If there is a mission that the People’s Government deserves, it is solidarity in its most diverse forms.

If there is a goal to mark a government, it is economic development.

Whether there is a democratic obligation to impose on a government is transparency of public finances and management of public money.

We are well aware of the importance of the government in the Azores, but we do not want the government to be increasingly imposed on the lives of Azorean.

We believe in private initiative, the freedom and strength of civil society forces, and we will never fail to guarantee the public interest and regulate, to the appropriate and desirable extent, the various legitimate interests of our society. A fair and inclusive society.

This will not be a pointless government, but we want everyone to know our starting point.

We will make established legal and institutional commitments.

We will not deny what is good, what will be to maintain and continue, nor will we ignore what is bad and that will need to change.

24 years later the alternative came to the fore and the alternation of government formed.

It is a sign of democratic vitality and this government is a proud of the hope it involves.

24 years ago it did not change, but in these 24 years the world changed.

24 years on, we are the new love, we represent a new hope, we change the government, and we want to change the Azores for better.

We want a real, more consistent and consistent development for the Azores.
It will be 4 years of work. A lot of commitment on the part of all and each of us.

In the words of the Honourable writer Manuel Ferreira, we want to be again, we need to be “Hours like the stars and free like the wind”.

Said!

Thank you!