The draft decree sent by Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to parliament on Tuesday, which will take effect between midnight on the 8 January and 11:59 on the 15 January is widely expected to be approved with favourable votes from the parliamentary benches of the PS and PSD. The parliamentary groups of the PCP and the ENP, as well as the sole deputy of Chega, André Ventura, announced, on Monday after a hearing with the President of the Republic, that they will repeat the vote against the diplomat, after meeting with the President of the Republic on the matter.

The CDS-PP parliamentary group again decided to abstain, while IL's only deputy, João Cotrim de Figueiredo, announced that he would vote against the document in principle, but would wait to see if the President takes into account some points that he considered to be “Absolutely excessive”. BE has yet to reveal the vote, as does PAN, although party spokesman André Silva admitted, also on Monday, that "it is wise" to renew the state of emergency for another eight days.

In a statement, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa justified the prolongation of the state of emergency with the “situation of public calamity caused by the pandemic” and the impossibility of “holding a new meeting with specialists before mid-January, with significant data on the evolution of that ”. The draft decree states that the Government, led by the socialist António Costa, must “continue to provide mechanisms for social support and protection, within the current budget framework”.

This reference was introduced in the standard that allows “the total or partial closure of establishments, services, companies or means of production to be determined by the competent public authorities and changes to the respective regime or opening hours are imposed”, a possibility that was already contemplated in the previous decrees. To decree this legal framework, which allows the suspension of the exercise of certain rights, freedoms and guarantees, the President of the Republic must listen to the Government and authorise the Assembly of the Republic.

This renewal of the state of emergency will cover the first five days of the presidential election campaign, which runs from 10 to 22 January. The presidential elections will take place on the 24 January and the current head of state, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, who is running again for office alongside Ana Gomes, Marisa Matias, João Ferreira, André Ventura, Tiago Mayan Gonçalves and Vitorino Silva, are candidates.