Portugal will delay a planned October referendum on the European Union constitution treaty, Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates said today.
Portugal will postpone the vote because of the decision by European leaders on Thursday to extend the ratification period until at least mid-2007, Mr Socrates said.
“As you know, this [EU] suspension is also very much due to the fact that some countries wanted to carry out a referendum before ours. All the polls showed that the political climate was very adverse,” he said.
Mr Socrates's Socialist government had planned to carry out a referendum on the constitution in October, jointly with municipal elections.
Mr Socrates said he still backed a referendum and expected the Portuguese to approve the treaty as it now stood.