José Pedro Aguiar-Branco addressed journalists after participating in the welcome session and inaugurating the exhibition “40 years of European Portugal” at the Interpretative Center of the Assembly of the Republic.
On Tuesday, in the first session of the current Legislature, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco was re-elected as the President of the Assembly of the Republic with 202 votes in favor out of 230, marking the second highest vote in democratic history.
However, during the same vote, deputies from Chega, Diogo Pacheco Amorim and Filipe Melo, failed to secure the 116 votes needed to be elected as vice-president and vice-secretary of the Assembly of the Republic, respectively. This outcome led the leader of Chega, André Ventura, to describe it as “betrayal”.
Speaking to journalists, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco noted that, personally, the votes he received signal “an increase in responsibility” concerning his duties.
“It means that I am entrusted with a significant level of trust from the deputies regarding their expectations of me, as demonstrated by my previous mandate,” he said, highlighting characteristics such as respect for each deputy’s ideas, civility in democratic debate, and the goal of enhancing the ability to reach consensus.
Regarding the unsuccessful election of the two Chega deputies, the former Social Democratic minister expressed a wish that “this episode hadn’t occurred,” hoping now that in the second vote, scheduled for the 18th, the deadlock will be “overcome.”
“I believe it will be resolved, and I hope this situation doesn’t hinder other necessary consensus, particularly on issues heavily impacting what the Portuguese expect from parliament. Ideally, this episode wouldn’t have occurred; it did happen, but I hope it won’t happen again, allowing us to provide the stability and democratic normalcy that people desire,” emphasized the President of the Assembly of the Republic.
When questioned about his belief in a broad political consensus to ensure Defense investments reach 2% of GDP (Gross Domestic Product) this year, as stated by Prime Minister Luís Montenegro last Thursday during his inaugural speech as the head of the government, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco expressed optimism.
“I think there is a broad consensus in Portuguese society regarding matters related to Defense and our collective security in a world that is dangerous and demanding,” he asserted.
From the perspective of the President of the Assembly of the Republic, the current international scenario “requires each country to reinforce contributions to Defense, particularly within the European Union or NATO framework.”
“This is a reality that garners a very broad consensus in Portuguese society and among politicians represented in the Assembly of the Republic. Therefore, I believe reaching consensus on this matter is possible. I’m even optimistic that this could be one of the issues where consensus can be most easily achieved – and my role as President of the Assembly of the Republic will be to facilitate that,” he added.
