“Mr. President, the deputy secretary to your left [Filipe Melo] is making gestures with his mouth, sending me kisses and doing this with his finger on his nose, making ‘shh’ gestures, as if to say, don’t tell, don’t tell,” stated the deputy, highlighting: “There are limits, Mr. President, there really are limits.”
The PS deputy requested to speak to make this appeal to the Assembly’s Chair during a debate about fires and firefighters, scheduled by Chega. Filipe Melo, deputy secretary, was seated at the Assembly of the Republic’s Table, to the left of the president, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco.
The President of the Assembly of the Republic stated he had not observed this behavior and indicated that the Transparency and Members Statute Committee “will have to pronounce itself.”
“I will record this and make the appropriate referral to the committee,” he noted.
Jorge Pinto, from Livre, also asserted that the acts of the deputy and deputy secretary of the Assembly’s Table “occurred today, occurred yesterday [Wednesday], and is an absolute disrespect for the functioning of this house.”
Deputy Pedro Delgado Alves, also from PS, mentioned that the Table is a body of the Assembly of the Republic, which “has a function of impartially conducting work, binds all its members” and can convene to discuss the “inappropriate, unacceptable behavior of one of its members, which calls into question impartiality in the conduct of work.”
“I believe it is within your reach if it is concluded, and I think it is evident, demonstrably documented, that one of the members of the Table is not up to the task, to be replaced during the session by another member of the Table who can fulfill and ensure it,” proposed the socialist.
José Pedro Aguiar-Branco indicated that this analysis will be done “in due time and at the appropriate place.”
The debate continued after this incident, and Filipe Melo remained seated at the Table of the Assembly of the Republic.
