The solemn session commemorating the 50th anniversary of April 25, 1974 in the Assembly of the Republic, scheduled for 11:30 am on Thursday, takes place at the beginning of a new political cycle, after the early legislative elections on March 10, which resulted in the formation of a PSD/CDS-PP minority executive. Two weeks ago, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa highlighted that the commemorations of the 50 years of April 25 "begin with a left-wing Government", the PS, "and end with a right-wing Government". "But that is a virtue of Portugal. It means that there is an obvious national consensus regarding April 25, freedom, democracy, what was a huge step in decolonization, in what is a constant demand, never-ending, in economic, social, cultural and sustainable development", he considered. On the occasion of the fiftieth anniversary of the Carnation Revolution, the President of the Republic announced that he would decorate all the military personnel who participated in April 25, which he has been doing, in different sessions, since 2021. Some decorations caused controversy, such as that of the former head of state António de Spínola, posthumously, awarded in July last year, without being disclosed at the time. On April 25, 2022, the President of the Republic argued that "it is never too much to thank the refunding gesture of the captains of April, whatever one may think about what they were before and after that gesture". In that solemn session, in view of the ongoing war in Ukraine, invaded two months earlier by forces of the Russian Federation, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa dedicated his speech to the Portuguese Armed Forces, for which he asked for "more essential means". In 2023, the Assembly of the Republic commemorated April 25 in the presence of the President of Brazil, who previously spoke at a welcome session in which the IL left almost all its seats empty and the Chega raised posters and banged on the benches, in protest against Lula da Silva. Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa argued that the presence of the President of Brazil made perfect sense, as he represented a country "precursor in decolonization", and in his speech he defended that Portugal should not only "apologize, duly, without a doubt", but "assume responsibility" for everything it did in the colonial past. A year ago, the head of state also condemned the Portuguese who are "selfish in the face of the dramas of immigrants", which earned him applause from all parties except Chega. At the time, there was an absolute majority of the PS, which in the meantime has dissolved and gave way to a new framework in the legislative elections held due to the dissolution of parliament, following the resignation of the Prime Minister, António Costa, because of Operation Influencer. The new Government, led by Luís Montenegro, who took office on April 2, has the support of 80 deputies -- 78 from the PSD and 2 from the CDS-PP -- out of 230, in a parliament in which the PS has 78 seats, Chega 50, IL 8, BE 5, PCP 4, Livre also 4 and PAN 1. Since taking over as head of state in 2016, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, former president of the PSD, has chosen to appear at the commemorative sessions of April 25 with a red carnation in his hand -- instead of wearing it on his lapel, like some, or of dispensing with the flower symbol of the revolution, like others, especially on the right. When he made his debut at these ceremonies, in 2016, he said that his red carnation was a gift from young people, a symbol of "much that remains to be done", and called for "sectoral consensus of the regime". In 2017, he praised the "victories" in finance and the economy, but called for "greater wealth creation and better distribution", as well as more transparency, speed and efficiency in political power, in order to prevent the "so-called anti-institutional populisms". In 2018, the head of state insisted on renewing the political system and once again warned that the voids left by institutional protagonists "will feed dangerous temptations of populist appeals, and even of messianic or providentialist sebastianist illusions". In 2019, he warned that the new generations refuse "clientelism and chronic postponements", assuming themselves as spokespersons for the young, and called for "more ambition". On April 25, 2020, the first in the context of the covid-19 pandemic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa defended the commemoration of the Carnation Revolution, which was contested at the time by CDS-PP and Chega. In 2021, he focused his speech on the Portuguese colonial past, asking that History be looked at "without fears or complexes", seeking to unite and combat intolerances, with the notion that there are different experiences and perspectives in relation to that period. Read Also: Marcelo says that Montenegro has "rural behaviors" and Costa is "slow" (Portuguese version)