The debate, set as the second item on the agenda for this afternoon’s plenary session, will be attended by Minister Maria Lúcia Amaral, confirmed a government source.
The government has five minutes to open the debate, which will be followed by party interventions in descending order of parliamentary representation, lasting approximately 31 minutes.
Maria Lúcia Amaral was sworn in on June 5—two months after the RASI report was delivered—as one of the new faces of the XXV Constitutional Government. Her task will be to clarify issues to Parliament regarding the report presented by her predecessor Margarida Blasco, one of the most contested ministers of the previous government.
The assessment of the 2024 Internal Security Annual Report (RASI) in the Assembly of the Republic will take place almost three months after its presentation—still in the previous legislative session—which was marked by the controversial removal of a chapter on extremist organizations in the final version.
The matter was raised by the Left Bloc, which, on April 2, questioned the government about why the version supposedly presented at the Higher Council of Internal Security meeting on Monday differs from the version sent to Parliament.
In the RASI document sent to Parliament, available online on the government’s page, pages 35 to 39 from the initial version are missing. These pages pertained to the chapter “extremisms and hybrid threats” and warned about the presence of an international extremist organization in Portugal, classified as a terrorist organization in several countries.
The Internal Security System (SSI) admitted there was a “working version” of the Internal Security Annual Report (RASI) that included information about extremist organizations, which was different from the “official version” presented at the meeting. In response to the Left Bloc, the government, through the prime minister’s office, expressed concern about extremist movements.
On the left, criticism of the removal of this paragraph was unanimous, with the Left Bloc, supported by the PS, PCP, and Livre, requesting a discussion of the report in the previous legislation session, even after dissolution, during a permanent committee meeting in Parliament—an intention rejected by PSD, CDS, and Chega in a leaders’ conference.
This rejection was heavily criticized by the three parties, which accused PSD, CDS-PP, and Chega of paying lip service to security without wanting to debate it in Parliament.
Recently, this topic returned to debate following several assaults associated with far-right groups, with PCP and BE having asked the government to rectify the absence of these threats in the final version of the 2024 National Internal Security Report (RASI).
The sole deputy from PAN, Inês de Sousa Real, lamented in the previous legislature that the RASI data reveals an increase in the number of rapes and called for a commitment among parties to address this issue.
On the right, Chega promised in April to present a proposal for a parliamentary inquiry committee regarding the Internal Security Report (RASI) data, claiming they are incorrect.
The Liberal Initiative (IL) noted a “worrying trend” in areas like violent and serious crime or juvenile delinquency and will, during this afternoon’s debate, submit a proposal in Parliament for the RASI to include data related to the nationality and country of origin of crime perpetrators, the party disclosed.
