Portuguese Council of State

Portugal

This article is part of the series: Politics and government of Portugal

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The Council of State (Portuguese: Conselho de Estado, IPA: [kõˈsɐʎu ðɨ (ɨ)ʃˈtaðu]) is an organ established by the Constitution of Portugal to advise the President of the Republic of Portugal in the exercise of many of his discretionary, reserve powers. The constitution states that it must be summoned by the President in case he decides to dissolve the Assembly of the Republic, declare war or peace, or in case a government steps down.

Composition

• President of the Portuguese Republic
• President of the Assembly of the Republic (Parliament)
• Prime Minister
• President of the Constitutional Court
• Provedor de Justiça (Justice Provider, or Ombudsman)
• President of the Regional Government of Azores
• President of the Regional Government of Madeira
• Former elected Presidents of the Portuguese Republic
• Five members designated by the President of the Republic (Usually prominent figures such as the President of the Bank of Portugal)
• Five members elected by the Assembly of the Republic (Usually one from every party with parliamentary representation)
• Secretary of the Council of State

Current composition

From June 2011:

Category	Member
President of the Portuguese Republic	Cavaco Silva
President of the Assembly of the Republic	Assunção Esteves
Prime Minister	Pedro Passos Coelho
President of the Constitutional Court	Rui Manuel Moura Ramos
Provider of Justice (Onbudsman)	Alfredo José de Sousa
President of the Regional Government of Azores	Carlos César
President of the Regional Government of Madeira	Alberto João Jardim
Former elected President of the Portuguese Republic	Ramalho Eanes
Former elected President of the Portuguese Republic	Mário Soares
Former elected President of the Portuguese Republic	Jorge Sampaio
Designated by the President of the Republic	Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa
Designated by the President of the Republic	Leonor Beleza
Designated by the President of the Republic	João Lobo Antunes
Designated by the President of the Republic	Bagão Félix
Designated by the President of the Republic	Vítor Bento
Elected by the Assembly of the Republic	Marques Mendes
Elected by the Assembly of the Republic	Luís Filipe Menezes
Elected by the Assembly of the Republic	Manuel Alegre
Elected by the Assembly of the Republic	António José Seguro
Elected by the Assembly of the Republic	Francisco Pinto Balsemão