“There have been some approaches. The PSD included in the law tonight that anyone requesting nationality must have means of subsistence. There was an approach, in several points, and there were also approaches from Chega,” declared André Ventura in Entroncamento, Santarém district, noting that, nonetheless, no “consensus” was reached, while awaiting developments until the final overall vote on Tuesday.
The government’s proposal to revise the nationality law, incorporating amendments suggested by PSD and CDS, was approved in the specialty committee in the Constitutional Affairs Commission today but still lacks assurance of Chega’s support in the final overall vote.
On the sidelines of the inauguration of the president of the Entroncamento City Council (elected by Chega), André Ventura told Lusa that divergences remain that prevent the party from voting favorably on the bill.
The Chega leader identified two points that continue to separate his party from the other proponents of the legislative revision. The first concerns the loss of nationality in cases of serious crimes.
“Our perspective is that someone who commits terrorism, homicide, rape, serious crimes should lose nationality. They lose nationality if they obtained it while not being Portuguese,” he stated, arguing that this effect should be automatic.
The second unresolved point relates to the possibility of revoking nationality obtained fraudulently. For Ventura, “when fraud is discovered, when deception is discovered, they lose Portuguese nationality.”
“The PSD thinks not,” he added, advocating that there should be no statute of limitations or consolidation of this status over time.
According to Chega’s leader, “there is the possibility of making references to the plenary” of the Assembly of the Republic by Monday at 18:00, aiming for a final discussion. “We will see if it is possible to reach an understanding or not,” he indicated.
“What must be clear in Portugal, and for the 1.5 million immigrants, is that we have nothing against anyone, but those who want to obtain Portuguese nationality must undergo a legal process. If they commit crimes as Portuguese citizens, they lose that nationality and lose it immediately because a terrorist does not deserve to continue being Portuguese,” Ventura declared.
The revision of the nationality law requires an absolute majority of 116 votes to be approved by the 230 active deputies. Given the opposition of PS, Livre, PCP, and Bloco de Esquerda, Chega will be decisive in enabling the bill, joining PSD, CDS, and Iniciativa Liberal.
A PSD source told Lusa that there have not yet been assurances of support from Chega. “Their choice is whether they want a better nationality law than the current one,” they stated.
Chega deputy Cristina Rodrigues stated that the party “will still decide” its position.
In today’s vote, PSD and CDS rejected all proposals from Chega, including some that Ventura considered red lines, although they accepted the requirement related to means of subsistence.
Chega voted against the proposal to grant nationality to stateless persons residing in Portugal for at least four years and, on other points, divided their votes between favoring and abstaining.
