Portuguese Prime Minister José Socrates presented the resignation to the president of the Republic in the sequence of the rejection by the Parliament of the 4th Stability and Growth Pact. The 4th Stability Pact in twelve months.

The Republic’s Presidency confirmed the resign request and announced that the president, will receive next Friday the parties represented in Parliament. According to Socrates, “this crisis happens in the worst of moments for Portugal” and that, the opposition parties did not presented alternatives to the government’s measures. However, in Parliament only the PSD did not included alternative proposals in the resolutions projects that were sent to vote and its deputies gathered the ones from PS to reject all measures of social character that were advanced by the left parties. 

Bloco de Esquerda presented two essential proposals: to cut unnecessary expenditure this year and a new fiscal contract to correct the national budget deficit from 2012 on, including measures so that those who caused the crisis do not become their beneficiaries: the increase of the lowest retirement pensions, an efective fight against precariousness, a public investment policy to boost employment. 

According to the statement made by the outgoing Prime Minister, the rejection of the 4th SGP, implies that Portugal will be in a similar situation as the one in Ireland regarding the conditions that will be imposed by international organizations in relation to the sovereign debt. Socrates attributed the fall of the government to the existence of a “negative coalition”, spoke about “eagerness of power” and “impatience for power” and added that the executive resignation will have “serious consequences” to Portugal among the financial markets.

The Parliament’s decision was adopted in way of approval of the points related to the rejection of the SGP included in each of the five resolution projects approved. PSD, however, joined PS in order to reject all the alternative proposals presented by the left in way to be adopted measures of social character against the crisis, namely measures of social and economic development, fight to precariousness and to unemployment. The Prime-Minister, was not present during most of the debate, he waited for the terminus of the voting to go to Belém and meet with the president of the Republic.

Over the debate, only the interventions and the documents of the PSD avoided the debating of concrete questions included in the SGP and the social alternatives to this program presented by the left. In a keynote speech, Manuela Ferreira Leite considered "politicking" to discuss concrete problems and did not answer to the direct questions that were addressed to her about the involvement of the PSD will all the politics practiced by the government and about her opinion regarding some aspects contained in the 4th SGP, namely about further privatizations, worsening of the unemployment situation and the unemployed, and liberalization of the renting.

Elsa Santos, EL executive Board, Bloco de Esquerda