It appears the Portuguese PM's threats last week that he would resign if the constitutional court rules against the various austerity measures in the proposed 2013 budget (subsequently recanted because he may have just sensed which way the winds are blowing), were not enough to pressure the court into voting the way the German rulers of the Eurozone demanded, because moments ago the high court said that some budget elements are unconstitutional.Specifically it said that:
- Article 29 and
- Article 77
are not constitutional. Of course, trampling the constitution in Europe's insolvent vassal fiefdoms is nothing new. Recall that its the Central Bank of Cyprus that said deposit confiscation is just that: unconstitutional. Too bad that didn't stop anyone from trampling all over the laws and rules of the land in the namd of what? Lots and lots of political capital of course, that nobody, NOBODY, should underestimate.
And remember: No Plan B.
From Reuters [6]:
Portugal's constitutional court on Friday rejected four out of nine contested austerity measures from this year's budget in a ruling that deals a blow to government finances, but is unlikely to derail the bailed-out country's adjustment effort.
The measures rejected by the court should deprive the state of some 900 million euros ($1.17 billion) in revenues and savings, according to preliminary estimates based on budget calculations.
The whole package of new austerity measures introduced by the 2013 budget is worth about 5 billion euros.
The 13 constitutional court judges scrutinized articles of the 2013 budget, which imposed the largest tax increase in living memory and imposed pay cuts for civil servants and pensioners, rejecting some of them.
The government has called an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Saturday.