The motion was presented and read by the president of the Assembly of the Republic, Social Democrat José Pedro Aguiar-Branco. At the conclusion, all parliamentary benches stood in applause, including the Government, except for Chega, whose deputies applauded while seated.
The Government remained present in the plenary session throughout the various votes of condolence, participating in the subsequent minute of silence. Several family members and friends of Pinto Balsemão were present in the galleries during the reading of the motion.
Former Prime Minister Francisco Pinto Balsemão, founder and member number one of the PSD, of which he was also president, passed away on Tuesday, October 21, at the age of 88.
The motion recalls Pinto Balsemão’s life, “which intertwines with the very history of democracy.”
“At 32, he became a deputy in the National Assembly, even before the April revolution, as part of the Liberal Wing group. He visited political prisoners and was committed to defending freedom of the press, expression, information, and assembly,” the text recalls.
The motion notes that in 1973, he created Expresso, inspired by the example of the English press and, after April 25, founded the Popular Democratic Party (current PSD) with Sá Carneiro and Magalhães Mota, of which he became the first member.
He served as a deputy and vice-president of the Constituent Assembly, minister adjoint to the first government of the Democratic Alliance, and assumed leadership of the PPD and the head of the VII and VIII Constitutional Governments following the Camarate tragedy that claimed the then Prime Minister Francisco Sá Carneiro.
“As prime minister, he was a significant figure in the 1982 constitutional revision and Portugal’s European path,” it is highlighted.
He was also a lawyer, journalist, university professor, and entrepreneur. In 1992, he founded Sociedade Independente de Comunicação (SIC), the first private television network in Portugal, “part of a liberalization process that revolutionized the media and entertainment industry” in the country.
“He remained, until the end of his days, irreverent and free, committed to a vision of a modern, democratic, European, and open country, which he helped build through his engagement in various areas,” the motion also emphasizes.
The parliament expressed condolences to the family, friends, and Impressa group, asserting the belief that “Portuguese democracy, in its current form, owes much to the civic commitment, strategic drive, and work of Francisco Pinto Balsemão.”
“A man who, having been almost everything one can be in a democracy, was always, and above all, a committed and exemplary citizen,” it is stated.
