The abstention of the IL in a parliamentary text condemning the attack on members of the “A Barraca” theater company, presented by PAN, Livre, BE, and PCP, has sparked criticism. This text was voted on Wednesday in the Parliamentary Committee on Constitutional Affairs, Rights, Freedoms, and Guarantees.
“This abstention does not represent us, it bothers us and requires an explanation from the parliamentary group’s leadership,” reads a letter signed by 54 IL members, initially reported by Público.
Expressing “sadness and indignation” over Rui Rocha’s abstention, active deputy of the party in the committee, these members argue that IL was “founded to guarantee all freedoms” and not be “at the service of political calculations or mere individual convictions that do not represent the party’s statement of principles.”
According to these members, “at a time when hatred has lost its fear and threatens democracy, a liberal party cannot have doubts about its purpose: to fight against the messengers of disaffection and rancor, protect fundamental rights, and not hesitate when choosing a side.”
“Whenever a liberal party abstains from attacks on individual freedoms, it forgets the beautiful history of liberalism, shames its members, and confuses voters: abstention, in this case, is not moderation, it’s silence. And silence is complicity,” they criticize.
These members consider it “unacceptable for a party deputy,” referring to Rui Rocha, to acknowledge “the need to take a clear, courageous position aligned with the IL’s ideological foundations.”
“It is essential to understand if this position reflects the conviction of the majority of IL representatives in the Assembly of the Republic. If not, it is serious but solvable. If it does, we all need to pause and reflect on the party’s path,” it states.
The letter is signed by IL members like Nuno Morna, former IL deputy in the Madeira Legislative Assembly, national advisors Luís Areias and Sandra Pimentel, and José Maria Barcia, press advisor to Rui Malheiro during his leadership contest with Rui Rocha in February.
In a later vote statement, Rui Rocha asserted that the IL Parliamentary Group “unequivocally condemns the assaults on June 10 against actor Adérito Lopes and other ‘A Barraca’ theater company members.”
“It seems prudent and sensible, however, that parliament, as a sovereign body, does not replace the courts in determining any political motivations underlying the facts in question, to avoid disturbing the balance of powers and contributing to the politicization of justice,” he stated.
For Rui Rocha, “respect for the principle of separation of powers requires the Assembly of the Republic to exercise its legitimate power of political censure without anticipating, directly or indirectly, the judicial determination of the facts.”
“Invoking a particular ideological affiliation of the alleged attackers before the judicial determination of the facts may set a precedent that we consider undesirable,” it reads.
Rui Rocha says this is IL’s reasoning for abstention, emphasizing that the divergence lies in the early political qualification of the facts and not in condemning violent conduct or failing to show solidarity with the victims.
