José Manuel Bolieiro, head of the Social-Democrat Party in the Azores (PSD), was appointed President of the Regional Government by the Representative of the Republic, Pedro Catarino, following the October 25 elections. A decision that Pedro Catarino justified with the PSD/CDS-PP/PPM coalition having a majority support in the Legislative Assembly.

"Taking into account that the members of the three parties composing the coalition and the members of the two parties that support it take 29 of the 57 seats in the Azorean parliament – thus making up an absolute majority – I have decided to appoint José Manuel Bolieiro as president of the next Regional Government, which will now make up its team," said Pedro Catarino, at the end of the second day of hearings held for the parties sitting in the new Regional Legislative Assembly.

Pedro Catarino also added that this is “a Government solution that takes into account the election results and that, above all, it was clear from the hearings that the parties have made their commitments”. Also, “both the Coalition parties and the parties that support them in the Legislative Assembly declared that they would always vote against a possible government program presented by the Socialist Party (PS)”.

In this statement, Pedro Catarino stressed that "it is up to the Representative of the Republic to listen to the political parties represented in the Legislative Assembly and to evaluate, with objectivity, the perspectives of stability of the governmental solutions presented", and then summarize what the parties stated in the meetings.

"After the hearings – in which the eight parties were heard and in which they clearly answered the questions posed – it became clear that the Socialist Party, despite having obtained the highest number of votes and the highest number of mandates in these elections, did not present any government coalition. Nor has it signed any written agreements with other parties of parliamentary incidence, capable of broadening its support base beyond its own 25 deputies," declared Pedro Catarino.

He continued: "On the other hand, PSD has formed a government coalition with CDS-PP and PPM, based on a written political agreement, valid for the four years of the legislature that is now beginning, and which guarantees the permanent support of 26 deputies for the government solution presented. The three political parties that make up this coalition have also expressed their confidence in the solidity of the agreement they signed. Furthermore, the coalition led by PSD obtained from other parties a written commitment of stable parliamentary support for the term of the legislature, including all the decisions of the Legislative Assembly on which the continuity of the Regional Executive depends. In particular, the government's program, motions of censorship, votes of confidence, as well as the approval of the Autonomous Region's budget," he said.

Bolieiro guarantees "new paradigm" of governance
The leader of PSD/Azores, José Manuel Bolieiro, assured that the new government will take on "reformist policies and a new paradigm".

"I would like to reaffirm our respect and humility in assuming the responsibility to develop a new paradigm of governance," said Bolieiro after being announced as the new President of the Government of the Azores.

After the hearing with the Representative of the Republic, José Manuel Bolieiro stated that the right-wing coalition, which he formed with CDS-PP and PPM, meets all the criteria for a "stable parliamentary solution", confirming that it has also reached an agreement with two other parties: Chega and Iniciativa Liberal.

"Our mission conforms to the interest of democracy and to the interest of autonomy. It is, above all, an exercise of several responsibilities, which we are obviously willing to assume. With democratic legitimacy, other political parties have created with us the possibility of a stable parliamentary solution," he said.

When asked about the agreements reached to guarantee an absolute majority in the Azorean Parliament (29 MPs), José Manuel Bolieiro said that Chega, as well as Iniciativa Liberal (IL), "assured that there is effectively an agreement of parliamentary incidence".

Bolieiro also said that PSD, CDS-PP, and PPM formed an agreement for an "alternative government solution," because "the election results revealed a desire for change," adding that, "in order to provide stability," it was also necessary to create parliamentary agreements.

Faced with criticism from other parties about PSD's yielding to the demands of Chega, the social democratic leader accused them of “denigrating the parties and saying things that are not true.”

"The ideological and doctrinal matrix of PSD is intact and will remain intact. Our doctrinal and ideological matrix is evident in the PSD/CDS-PP/PPM coalition agreement, while parliamentary agreements have set very specific goals regarding consensus and parliamentary stability for the legislature. They are very clear and correspond to concrete matrix points", Bolieiro stressed.

According to him, the agreement with Chega includes "objective measures" and "has nothing to do with extremist and ideological issues, which are incompatible”.