The leader of Livre, Rui Tavares, responded Friday night to Chega’s president, André Ventura, concerning an incident involving “blowing kisses” in the Assembly of the Republic. The gesture was directed at Isabel Moreira but Ventura claimed it was addressed to Rui Tavares.
Ironically, the Livre leader took to social media, stating: “I thought there was some obsession, but it’s not my type.”
The situation arose when the vice-secretary of the Assembly of the Republic’s Board, Filipe Melo, was accused by the socialist during a plenary session.
“Mr. President, the vice-secretary at your left [Filipe Melo] is making mouth gestures, blowing kisses at me and putting a finger on his nose, as if saying ‘shush, don’t tell, don’t tell’,” the deputy said to José Pedro Aguiar-Branco. “There are limits, Mr. President, there really are limits,” she added.
Bem me parecia que havia ali uma obsessão, mas não faz o meu género. pic.twitter.com/Uq8IeNpldO
— rui tavares (@ruitavares) September 26, 2025
During the debate on issues related to fires and firefighters, Aguiar-Branco stated he had not witnessed the gesture but assured that the Commission of Transparency and the Statute of Deputies would address it.
At the time, Jorge Pinto of Livre also claimed that Filipe Melo’s gestures “occurred today, occurred yesterday [Wednesday], and reflect a complete disrespect for the functioning of this house.”
The debate continued post-incident, with Filipe Melo remaining seated at the Assembly’s Board, and the following day, Friday, Aguiar-Branco deemed the behavior unacceptable.
The president of the Assembly stressed that Board members “cannot, must not, neither through gestures, words, nor any other means, silence a deputy or influence what a deputy says.”
“What happened yesterday regarding deputy Isabel Moreira, in the president’s view, should not and cannot occur,” he emphasized.
The president of the Assembly of the Republic today condemned the act by Chega’s deputy Filipe Melo, who on Thursday “blew kisses” to PS deputy Isabel Moreira while serving as vice-secretary of the Assembly’s Board.
Lusa | 10:34 – 26/09/2025
Subsequently, the president of Chega commented on the matter, stating that Filipe Melo assured him the kisses were not directed at the socialist deputy.
“No, I haven’t seen the images. What I saw was in yesterday’s news. The deputy told me and assured me that the interaction was with deputy Rui Tavares, not with deputy Isabel Moreira,” Ventura stated when asked about the matter.
“Yesterday, I had the opportunity to speak with deputy Filipe Melo at the end of the day about what deputy Isabel Moreira stated, and deputy Filipe Melo assured me that he had no provocative attitude, neither blowing kisses nor other similar actions which are obviously unacceptable in the Assembly of the Republic,” André Ventura stated.
