Parliament approves renewal of State of Emergency until April 17th

  • ECO News
  • 2 April 2020

MEPs approved this Thursday the 15-day extension of the State of Emergency proposed by Portugal's President and supported by the Government.

The Portuguese Parliament approved this Thursday the renewal of the State of Emergency until April 17th with the favorable votes of the PS, PSD, CDS and BE. Liberal Initiative voted against. The PCP, PEV, Chega and Joacine Katar Moreira abstained.

Once the proposal of the President of Portugal has been approved by the Government and by the Parliament, the State of Emergency will continue from 00:00 on April 3rd until 23:59 on April 17th, “without prejudice to further renovations”. In other words, the door is open to further extensions, according to the decree of Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

The President of Portugal will explain the 15-day extension of the State of Emergency tonight, at 8 pm, as he did on March 18th when the State of Emergency was initially decreed. During the afternoon, an extraordinary Council of Ministers will be held to draft the legislation necessary to regulate the new measures.

The new decree has additions to what initially established the State of Emergency in “matters concerning employment protection, price control, support for the elderly in homes or at home, education and the adoption of urgent measures for protecting citizens deprived of their liberty, especially vulnerable to COVID-19 disease.”