These deliberations, submitted for plenary consideration and voting by the Speaker of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, fueled a heated debate between left-wing and right-wing parliamentary groups.
The government’s urgent procedure request for the nationality law revision, which the PSD seeks to finalize in September, faced opposition from all left-wing (PS, Livre, PCP, Bloco de Esquerda, JPP, and PAN) and right-wing parties (PSD, Chega, Iniciativa Liberal, and CDS).
Regarding the proposal amending the legal regime for foreign nationals’ entry, stay, exit, and removal, which the Social Democrats aim to achieve a final global vote on by the 16th, during the last pre-summer session, the IL voted alongside the left-wing, yet the decision was passed with support from PSD, Chega, and CDS.
More agreement surfaced concerning the urgent procedure for establishing the new PSP Border Unit, endorsed by PSD, Chega, PS, and Iniciativa Liberal, with PCP and JPP abstaining and votes against from BE, Livre, and PAN.
In the debate, the PS accused PSD and Chega of attempting to “bypass proper legislative processing rules” amid calls for hearings on the foreign law, and jeopardizing the Assembly of the Republic’s prestige, particularly where constitutional doubts arise over the nationality law revision proposal.
PS parliamentary group leader Eurico Brilhante Dias urged the Speaker of the Assembly, who previously acknowledged some constitutional concerns, to intervene.
In response, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco conceded, stating, “These documents might contain issues that could be deemed unconstitutional, which I have flagged for attention.”
“Therefore, this risk is inherent in the plenary vote,” he noted, reiterating that his role as Speaker required him to present these deliberations for plenary evaluation.
Chega, CDS, and PSD conveyed the urgency of adopting the decrees in response to left-wing factions, with Christian Democrat João Almeida highlighting potential “call-in effects” if the new immigration law’s enactment is delayed.
PSD parliamentary group leader Hugo Soares remarked on the majority’s intent behind the government proposals, echoing the famous statement by former Socialist minister António Vitorino to the PS bench: “Get used to it.”
