Augusto Santos Silva, Socialist Speaker of Parliament, had asked the President of the Republic (PR) 15 minutes of his time to invite him, but Marcelo resolved the request yesterday with lunch between the two at the Palácio de Belém. A luncheon that took place this Wednesday, when the PR is “invested” by Chega to take a stance in the conflict that pits the party against the President of the Assembly of the Republic (PAR). This Friday, Ventura will travel to Belém to present its complaints. But he has already asked Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa to “inform” the chairman of the AR that it cannot continue like this when carrying out parliamentary work.
Apparently Marcelo and Santos Silva did not speak for a second yesterday about the conflict between the president of AR and Chega, according to Expresso. Santos Silva invited Marcelo to participate in parliament on September 23 at the formal session commemorating the 200th anniversary of the first Portuguese constitution. “The President of the Republic has accepted this invitation and therefore the effort is being carried out successfully,” added the Speaker of Parliament.
What is at stake in the parliamentary conflict are accusations by Chega a Santos Silva that he has led the work in the AR in violation of the principles of impartiality and exemption to which he is obliged.
Last week, Chega’s deputies left the plenary after the Speaker of the Assembly of the Republic commented on an anti-immigrant speech by André Ventura. “There are only a few who never take priority in the government’s speech, the Portuguese who have worked all their lives, who pay taxes and support the country,” Chega’s leader said. What prompted PAR to intervene: “As President of the Assembly of the Republic of Portugal, I believe that Portugal owes much, if not much, to the many thousands of immigrants who work here, who live here and who contribute to our social security , for our social cohesion, for our collective life, for our citizenship and for our dignity as an open country that is inclusive and respectful of others.”
It was after this intervention that Chega’s deputies left the plenary. After that, André Ventura’s party delivered a draft resolution to the AR table, which in practice is a motion of censure against Santos Silva. The latter, who is responsible for authorizing the project, asked the parliamentary committee on constitutional affairs for advice on its admissibility – something that will not happen until September.
“Where would we end up?”
In this request for advice, the chairman of the AR expresses his “doubts” about the Chega resolution project, namely in view of the “precedent it can create”.
For now, Enough wants to “censor” the president of AR. But tomorrow, that could open the door for someone in parliament who wants to censor Chega — for example, “for its insistence on blatantly presenting unconstitutional bills.” “Where would we end up? Who would limit this new power that is available to the majority of the time, for example, to shrink or even humiliate minorities,” the PAR asked in the transmission to the Committee on Constitutional Affairs.
Source: El heraldo
John Cameron is a journalist at The Nation View specializing in world news and current events, particularly in international politics and diplomacy. With expertise in international relations, he covers a range of topics including conflicts, politics and economic trends.
