Former PM takes oath as Portuguese head of state

Former conservative prime minister Anibal Cavaco Silva was sworn in as Portugal’s new president today, becoming the country’s first right-of-centre head of state in three decades.

Cavaco Silva, who was prime minister between 1985 and 1995, took the oath in a Lisbon ceremony at the parliament, which was followed by a 21-gun salute from a Navy frigate moored in the nearby Tagus River.

Cavaco Silva, a 66-year-old former university professor of economics, was credited with introducing reforms that generated a swift modernisation of Portugal after its 1986 joining of the European Union.

He has promised to help drive another regeneration of Portugal’s waning economy.

Cavaco Silva won the January presidential election with 50.5% of the vote, defeating five left-of-centre rivals.

Though the head of state holds no executive power, which lies with the centre-left socialist government, his comments carry great weight and he could help guide Portugal out of its current social and economic difficulties.

The economy is expected to have grown by just 0.3% last year and is predicted to expand by just 0.8% this year. The unemployment rate has risen to an 18-year high of 8%.

The government wants to modernise business and has introduced a raft of labour reforms, including a hike in the retirement age to 65 from 60 and reduced welfare benefits. However, the changes have brought dozens of strikes.

Cavaco Silva has vowed to hold the government to its reform promises.

He has suggested rewriting the proposed European constitution to make it more palatable for voters and has urged close ties between the EU and the United States.

Outgoing socialist president Jorge Sampaio had reached the constitutional limit of two consecutive five-year terms.

Foreign dignitaries at the ceremony included EU Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, South African President Thabo Mbeki and former US President George HW Bush.