“I do not agree. It is within the sovereignty of the Assembly of the Republic. Let us not forget that all deputies are elected by direct and universal suffrage by the Portuguese people. This means that we all have a mandate of representation; no one is there by invitation, no one entered through the side door, nor is anyone an employee of a company or a public body. Therefore, it is important to distinguish,” José Pedro Aguiar Branco responded to journalists in Guimarães, Braga district.
During a visit to the Polymer Engineering Innovation Pole (PIEP) at the University of Minho’s Azurém Campus in Guimarães, the Assembly President emphasized that “the legitimacy each deputy has is a direct legitimacy from the Portuguese people.”
“Regarding this type of conduct, we must be very careful, it should also be managed within the framework of those who represent the Portuguese people. The Ethics Committee is made up of deputies from all parliamentary groups elected by the Portuguese people. Therefore, in this context, our rules and our, let’s say, organic structure of the Assembly of the Republic are correct,” Aguiar Branco argued.
Questioned about the need for an ethics committee in the Assembly, José Pedro Aguiar Branco noted that it has “existed for a long time” and is tasked with investigating deputies’ conduct and the parliament’s code of conduct, referring to the Commission on Transparency and Deputies’ Statute.
The Assembly President also mentioned that he requested “clarification” from the Chega parliamentary leader, Pedro Pinto, on whether he supports the complaint filed by fellow party member Filipe Melo against Socialist deputy Eva Cruzeiro.
“Because there was a general imputation that the deputy [Filipe Melo] made regarding the Chega parliamentary group. There was no specific mention regarding his person. Therefore, I asked for the Chega parliamentary group to, within 48 hours, express whether they adhere to the complaint presented so that it can then be forwarded to the Transparency Commission, which evaluates all deputies’ behavior when they might intersect with the code of ethics we are all bound to,” Aguiar Branco explained.
On Friday, Filipe Melo lodged a formal complaint with the President of the Assembly, citing Eva Cruzeiro’s remarks labeling Chega Party’s deputies as “racists,” “xenophobes,” and belonging to a party that “should not even exist” under the Constitution.
In an order disclosed today, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco stated that “for the appropriate assessment of the substantive legitimacy of participation, it is necessary, first and foremost, to clarify whether the initiative is a personal manifestation” of Filipe Melo “or an institutional manifestation of the Chega Parliamentary Group.”
“In these terms, and without prejudice to the possible referral to the Commission on Transparency and Deputies’ Statute for consideration of the facts allegedly directed towards Mr. Deputy Filipe Melo, the Chega Parliamentary Group, through its parliamentary leader, Pedro Pinto, is notified to clarify within two days whether they adhere to the participation submitted by Filipe Melo,” reads the order from the President of the Assembly.
