The Portuguese President, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, announced on Tuesday that he will reveal his decision regarding the Nationality Law on October 16, coinciding with the deadline to decide whether to forward it to the Constitutional Court.
“The deadline to decide on sending it to the Constitutional Court is October 16. I have already decided in my mind, but I will announce it on the 16th,” he stated.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa assured that he will “meet the deadline,” which will clarify his “inclination.”
“There are indeed sensitive points. One concerns retroactivity, another is the loss of nationality. There are two or three more sensitive issues, and others that may not be as legally sensitive but are politically, such as varying deadlines for nationals of Portuguese-speaking countries compared to others,” he noted.
The head of state emphasized that there are only “three or four fundamental issues,” adding that he will have to “wait for the parliamentary debate, the engagement of various parties, and the final vote, which is scheduled before the generalized debate on the State Budget.”
“Do the math. The general State Budget debate is set, if I’m not mistaken, for October 27 and 28, with the general vote on the 28th. So, it’s all very swift. On the 16th, you have one piece of news and then a likely vote on another law around the 26th or 27th,” he stressed.
Asked whether he is concerned about the government’s persistence in certain matters, like the loss of nationality, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa declined to comment.
“I’m not going to comment on it. I’ll wait to see what the decision is,” he said.
In July, the President sent the ‘first version’ of the Nationality Law to the Constitutional Court. In August, the Constitutional Court declared five provisions of the law unconstitutional, thereby rejecting the document.
