The Assembly of the Republic approved, on Wednesday, the requests for holding an extraordinary debate in the permanent commission with Prime Minister Luís Montenegro about the coordination of firefighting efforts. The measure was unanimously approved, yet the PSD still argued that the “Government’s image does not need to be cleaned.”
According to the President of the Assembly of the Republic, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco, the proposals from Chega and the PCP were put to vote in an extraordinary meeting of the leaders’ conference. The debate is set to take place next Wednesday, August 27, at 3:00 p.m.
Aguiar-Branco noted that Montenegro “himself expressed the intention to be present in the permanent commission” and that the Minister of Internal Administration, Maria Lúcia Amaral, may also be present if the Government wishes.
The Minister of Parliamentary Affairs, Carlos Abreu, also emphasized that the Prime Minister expressed a “clear desire” to attend Parliament to provide clarifications.
“The Prime Minister expressed a clear desire to be here in a meeting of the permanent commission, which will take place next week, to provide all necessary clarifications to Parliament and, through Parliament, also to the country,” stated Abreu to journalists after the leaders’ conference, adding that the Government is “very confident and certain about how the fight is being conducted.”
Asked about the presence of the Minister of Internal Administration, the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs considered that the availability demonstrated by the Prime Minister extends to the entire Government, who will “decide who will be present” in the debate.
“The whole Government will be available to provide those clarifications, but the head of the Government is the Prime Minister, and the Prime Minister assumes leadership in the same clarifications,” he added.
Meanwhile, the PSD parliamentary leader, Hugo Soares, denied that the Government’s willingness to provide clarifications to Parliament is an attempt to clean the executive’s image due to holding the Pontal Festival while Portugal was ravaged by fires.
He remarked, “The Government’s image does not need to be cleaned.”
Regarding the criticisms of holding the Pontal Festival, Hugo Soares assured that there are no regrets about the social-democratic event, noting the Prime Minister “left immediately after his speech, not participating in any festival.”
There are “more than enough reasons” for the Government to go to AR
On the other hand, the Chega parliamentary leader, Pedro Pinto, argued there are “more than enough reasons” for the Government to provide clarifications about the coordination in fighting the fires.
“Unfortunately, the country is in a severe state, a state we consider a great calamity. The interior of the country has been affected by many fires, and unfortunately, another person lost their life today while helping fight those fires. These are more than enough reasons for the Government to be scrutinized and for a permanent commission to take place,” Pedro Pinto stated on Wednesday.
However, the party doubts the Government will provide the necessary clarifications in Wednesday’s debate. “The Government will open the discussion and will close the discussion. In other words, it will not respond to questions during the debate,” he explained.
The IL leader, Mariana Leitão, also stressed it is “very important” to listen to the Prime Minister in Parliament and added that “the way the Government has managed this entire calamity is not, in any way, up to the circumstances.”
According to the liberal leader, there has been “complete disorganization, the absence of leadership, and even a certain erratic behavior or response” from the Prime Minister to the criticisms being made.
The Chega parliamentary leader argued today there are “more than sufficient reasons” for the Government to provide clarifications about firefighting coordination but expressed fear this might not happen in Wednesday’s debate.
“Competence problem.” Left regrets “detachment” and “lack of empathy”
In the same wave of criticism, the Livre parliamentary leader, Isabel Mendes Lopes, lamented that the Government’s stance had been of “little information, irregular information, and even some detachment and lack of empathy.”
In turn, the PCP parliamentary leader, Paula Santos, recalled that her party was one of those who requested Luís Montenegro’s presence in a debate in the Permanent Commission of the Assembly of the Republic, accusing the executive of “avoiding central issues and not providing concrete answers” in light of the “tragic fire situation.”
The BE coordinator, Mariana Mortágua, said she has tried not to criticize the Government amid fire combat, but stated that a parliamentary debate on this matter is justified because one can already say the executive “failed and that the Prime Minister had a problem of competence, notion, and also empathy.”
Livre, PCP, and BE accused the Government today of detachment and not providing the necessary responses for an effective fight against fires, urging it to support the affected populations and territories.
PS planned to vote against Chega and PCP requests, Carneiro said two days ago
On Tuesday, the PS Secretary-General, José Luís Carneiro, stated that the socialists would vote against the requests made by the Chega and PCP benches for a permanent committee meeting in Parliament about forest fires because it is “against political chicanery” and is happening at a time when efforts should be on firefighting coordination.
However, the PS parliamentary leader, Eurico Brilhante Dias, explained on Wednesday that the meeting of the permanent committee to discuss the fires “is untimely,” justifying the socialists’ favorable vote to the debate with the availability expressed by the Prime Minister to attend Parliament.
“Given the availability of the Prime Minister to come to Parliament, it is not the Socialist Party that will vote against the Prime Minister coming,” said Eurico Brilhante Dias.
It should be noted that in Chega’s request sent to the President of the Assembly of the Republic, the scheduling of a plenary session or, alternatively, an extraordinary meeting of the permanent commission, the body that replaces the plenary during parliamentary recesses, with the presence of Luís Montenegro and Maria Lúcia Amaral was requested.
The PCP also requested an extraordinary meeting of the Parliament’s Permanent Commission with the presence of the Prime Minister to debate the fires affecting the country.
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