“No applications were received for the vacant positions on these external bodies to the Assembly of the Republic,” a parliamentary source said today.
On the 20th, the leaders’ conference scheduled elections for December 19 for five members of the Council of State, three judges of the Constitutional Court, and the Ombudsman, setting today as the deadline for the submission of applications by different parties.
This schedule was communicated to journalists by the president of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, who has repeatedly urged parties during leaders’ conferences to conduct these elections to ensure the proper functioning of institutions.
The current legislative session began on June 3, yet more than six months have passed without the deputies voting on candidates for the Council of State, judges of the Constitutional Court, or the new Ombudsman.
Throughout this legislative session, the leaders’ conference has set other dates for elections to replace the three missing judges of the Constitutional Court and the Ombudsman—a position left vacant by Maria Lúcia Amaral’s transition to Minister of Internal Administration.
However, despite the scheduling of election dates by the leaders’ conference, parties with parliamentary representation have not presented candidates for the vacancies in these institutions.
Politically, the PSD is thought to have considered these parliamentary electoral processes should occur only after the presidential elections, with the first round scheduled for January 18. A potential second round would be on February 8.
The PS reportedly focused on avoiding instability in the Constitutional Court before it rules on its preventive review requests regarding amendments to the nationality law and changes to the Penal Code allowing for potential loss of nationality.
This morning, as another postponement of these parliamentary elections seemed imminent, PS parliamentary leader Eurico Brilhante Dias told journalists, “We will wait for the right moment.”
“PS is ready to hold elections and negotiate naturally and to discuss these issues with the PSD when the PSD is ready,” he stated.
The election of Constitutional Court judges and the Ombudsman is conducted by secret ballot by the 230 deputies and requires a qualified two-thirds majority.
In the current parliamentary setting resulting from the May legislative elections, unlike previous legislations, achieving a two-thirds majority no longer suffices with a political agreement between the two largest parties in the Assembly, traditionally the PSD and PS.
Now, to secure two-thirds of favorable votes, the parties supporting the Government, PSD and CDS, must reach an agreement with Chega, or with PS, coupled with support from a third party, such as Iniciativa Liberal or Livre.
For the five members of the Council of State, the advisory body to the President of the Republic, the election results are determined using the D’Hondt method among the different competing lists.
