President António José Seguro has called a meeting of the Council of State for the afternoon of Monday, 2 November, at Belém Palace, with social cohesion on the agenda. The summons was published on the Presidency’s website on Friday, 23 October.
It comes as Seguro continues to press for “urgent” action on the housing crisis. The head of state has more than once drawn a line between short-term fixes and deeper structural reform, insisting that both are needed now, while Portuguese families feel the squeeze.
The timing is pointed. The announcement arrived roughly two hours after Finance Minister Joaquim Miranda Sarmento told Parliament that “practically almost everything” had already been done to tackle the housing crisis, which he described as “a problem that takes time” to resolve.
On Wednesday, 21 October, the president also invited the parliamentary parties to individual audiences on social cohesion. These will take place on 29 October, the day after MPs vote on the 2027 State Budget in principle.
With well-attended demonstrations for the right to affordable housing continuing, Seguro appealed earlier this week for broad agreement between the Government and opposition parties, so that urgent measures can be adopted alongside more lasting ones.
“We need to look at this problem seriously and with everyone’s contribution. That is my appeal,” he said. The president has repeatedly voiced concern over social and territorial cohesion, warning of widening socioeconomic inequality and the strain that rising prices are putting on the country.
This will be the second Council of State meeting Seguro has called since taking office on 9 March. The first, on 17 April, dealt with security and defence.
Source: JN
Photo credit: Getty Images
