The president of Portugal, António José Seguro, has called the main political parties of the country to a meeting on the next day 29 with the aim of analyzing the serious social crisis that Portugal is experiencing, marked in recent weeks by encampments of protesters in Lisbon and Porto demanding access to housing.
This will be the first occasion in which the head of State convenes a formal round with the parties with parliamentary representation since his arrival at the Palace of Belém last March, beyond the institutional courtesy meetings held at the beginning of his mandate.
Unlike his predecessor, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who held frequent meetings with the parties to address issues of political stability, including Budget negotiations, Seguro has maintained a more discreet and less interventionist profile in the day-to-day of Portuguese politics so far.
The calendar set by the Presidency places this round of contacts just one day after the Budget project arrives at the Portuguese Parliament, where it is expected to be put to a vote and may be approved on the 28th.
In relation to the housing crisis affecting broad layers of the population, Seguro has defended the need to reach a great state pact among the different political forces to promote urgent measures, but also of a structural nature. His intention is for plans to be developed that integrate initiatives from various parties and articulate basic consensuses to address the situation.
As the Portuguese newspaper "Expresso" recalls, this Monday the president again referred to the housing problem, emphasizing that "a specific and human problem requires equally specific and human responses."