The Portuguese government has decided to suspend the process of ratifying the European constitution in the country and a referendum planned for October could also be postponed, Foreign Minister Diogo Freitas do Amaral said on Wednesday.

The ratification process would be slowed for "a pause for reflection," do Amaral told the local press.

Opinion polls have shown that similar cases could happen in other countries after the French and Dutch rejection of the EU constitution in referenda, said the foreign minister.

This could lead to a "political crisis" in the European Union (EU) and there should be a pause for reflection in the EU countries, he added.

Do Amaral stressed that the ratification process in EU member countries should continue. However, the "economic and social crises" in EU countries and the crisis caused by the rejection of the constitution in France and the Netherlands should make all EU countries "reflect," said the minister.

He said Portugal agreed with European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso that the process of ratification should be suspended for the EU countries to take "a pause for reflection."

That is "one of the ways out" for the EU at present, said do Amaral.

Opinion polls have shown that the number of Portuguese against the European constitution is increasing. A survey published in the Expresso newspaper last week showed that 49.2 percent of the respondents said they would vote against it.

(Xinhua News Agency June 16, 2005)