The bill that aims to establish the Foreigners and Borders Unit of the Public Security Police (PSP), a key initiative outlined in the Government’s national security program, is scheduled for a final overall vote in a plenary session of the Assembly of the Republic next Wednesday.
Although this government bill was approved without opposition votes in the Constitutional Affairs Committee, its voting was delayed by approximately three hours due to a political impasse between Chega and PSD regarding the potential payment of a supplement to the agents of this new PSP unit.
Later in the afternoon, Chega MP Cristina Rodrigues requested a vote on Article 2 of the Government’s proposal, which previously defined the UNEF as a “specialized unit,” a definition rejected by André Ventura’s party.
Cristina Rodrigues proposed that the UNEF be defined as a “special unit” within the scope of the PSP’s missions in matters of foreigners, borders, and airport security, comprising central and decentralized services, a change ultimately accepted by PSD and CDS.
With this last-minute change, according to Chega, although the demand for a special supplement was not enshrined in law, “a path has now been opened to potentially implement the payment of a special supplement to the agents of the new Foreigners and Borders Unit of the PSP in the future.”
However, contrary to Chega’s view, a PSD deputy stated to the Lusa agency that “there was no concession on this matter and that the payment of the special supplement is a red line” for the social democrats.
