The President of the Government defended the need to improve and deepen the democratic sense of Autonomy. In this regard, he presented three proposals concerning the structures of the Legislative Assembly, the administrative organisation of the Region and the constitutional framework of Autonomy.

"As Azoreans, we have the historical responsibility to reform, to transform and to provide a new impetus to our democratic experience." Vasco Cordeiro spoke at the Solemn Session of the Day of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, which was celebrated in the municipality of Lajes das Flores.

In his speech, the President of the Government defended, under the proposals presented today, it is time to analyse and discuss the possibility of the applications submitted by independent candidate lists to the Regional Legislative Assembly as well as the establishment of an open list system.

"In this specific case, voters, in addition to choosing the political party, can sort candidates on the list according to their preference," added the President of the Government.

The second proposal focuses on the administrative organisation model that is based on the reality of each island, especially on the islands with more than one municipality.
"Having as a starting point an existing body, the Island Council, I believe that the challenge is not to increase or decrease the number of institutions represented therein, but to make a deeper, more structural and more ambitious approach to these bodies and their operation," defended Vasco Cordeiro.

In this regard, the President of the Government of the Azores stressed the relevance of debating the possibility of assigning executive powers to these bodies as result, on the one hand, of the transfer of power from island municipalities and, on the other hand, of the assignment of regional powers.

"Nevertheless, the implementation of this new model requires that these new bodies have the democratic legitimacy granted by elections. In an initial phase, it should be dependent on the option to be taken by the municipalities involved and must not result in the increased number of political bodies or in the increase of institutional bureaucracy," said the government official.

As for the constitutional framework of Autonomy, Vasco Cordeiro stressed that, after 40 years of its implementation, there are no reasons or justifications to maintain organisational solutions that ”appear to reflect suspicions or fears on the Autonomy rather than the confidence that its goals and foundations have never called it into question."

"Therefore, it is time to reflect and debate on the removal of the position of Representative of the National Government. Currently, this position, according to the Constitution, is limited to representation duties, enactment of regional legislation and submission of requests for the assessment of the constitutionality and legality of these laws. Moreover, it still holds, incomprehensibly, political veto powers for which it does not have democratic legitimacy," said Vasco Cordeiro.

In the process to remove this institutional position, Vasco Cordeiro also defended the possibility of transferring its powers to regionally-based organisational solutions, already existing or to be created.

"These are bold and ambitious proposals that necessarily require a revision of the National Constitution and various laws," said the President of the Government. Before reaching this phase, there will be "an extremely important internal debate, within our Autonomy and for the benefit of our Autonomy, which should take place so that the Azorean people may have a better representation and political organisation system."

In his speech, the President of the Government stressed that we can consider that the balance of Autonomy is, beyond doubt, clearly positive after these past nearly four decades.

"But the fact that we are making a positive assessment does not mean that we are ignoring all the aspects that need improvement in order to provide a better response and accomplish its goals", said the President of the Government.

"It seems it is time to take the next step for our Autonomy," defended the President of the Government, who emphasised that this step "should be based on the fact that Autonomy cannot be regarded as a mere tool for the achievement of material well-being for our people. Nevertheless, it should be considered as means to encourage the democratic participation of citizens, being in line with its constitutional guidelines."

In this context, Vasco Cordeiro defended the commitment of all parties involved in the construction of solutions to promote the involvement of Azorean citizens in the decisions of their collective and democratic life in order to make them feel as part of our Autonomy.

"We need to find new paths that allow us to coordinate the solutions to bring authorities closer to voters and mobilise the exercise of democracy with the solutions to strengthen individual accountability as well as collective accountability in order to render the organisation of decision-making processes more effective," said the government official.
 
According to the President of the Government, if it is true that this path cannot be build in haste. In fact, it must be widely debated and analysed so that all parties involved, including political parties, may present and submit their proposals to the Azorean people, for example, in the 2016 regional legislative elections.
 
In his speech, the President of the Government considered, however, that the recent years have been particularly difficult, demanding and challenging for citizens as well as for public institutions and companies.

"In addition to adverse conditions in the international context, the national political options that have been taken now seek, myth of their inevitability, justification that their devastating economic and social effects can hardly guarantee them," said Vasco Cordeiro.

"Amidst the ideological agenda of some, the collaborative neutrality and the inertial of others, our country was drawn into a situation where social scourges re-emerged, such as unemployment, poverty, hunger and a glaring weakness, particularly in the most vulnerable sectors of society," said Vasco Cordeiro. In this context, the President of the Government considered that in the face of this situation, the Azores would eventually be affected, directly and indirectly, by the national scope of the political options taken by the National Government.

According to him, it is a fact that the Azores were not an "oasis amidst this storm," but the truth is that we have followed our own path, "within the limit of our power and resources," to find an Azorean Way through this storm."

"In view of a situation in which the National Government, consciously and wilfully, followed a path of tax increases, reduction of social benefits and cuts in government expenditure, this year our Autonomy will support Azorean families and companies with measures and benefits, through the allocation of 250 million Euros more than the amount provided in the Autonomous Region of Madeira or in Mainland Portugal," added Vasco Cordeiro.

According to the President of the Government, all this was done while maintaining a strict management of regional public finances, whether as regards to the deficit or to public debt; both register the lowest values in the country.

The Azores have followed its own way, a path set by Azoreans, an Azorean Way that has a considerable impact on external policy, going beyond the political significance of the value of Autonomy and our self-government system.

"In this context, and with the decisions and the results I have just mentioned, the Azorean Autonomy has crushed two political myths of modern times: the first, the inevitability of political options that have been taken at a national level; the second, the incompatibility between balanced and well-managed public finances and public policies that, quite simply, assume their responsibilities regarding the support of families and companies," said Vasco Cordeiro.

 A joint organisation of the Legislative Assembly and the Government of the Azores, the Solemn Session of the Day of the Azores was held in Fajã Grande in the municipality of Lajes das Flores. During the event, a total of 26 Autonomic Commendations were bestowed to several personalities and institutions.