The Socialist Party’s Filipe Neto Brandão, elected in Aveiro and holding a law degree from the University of Coimbra, has previously chaired the Committee on Budget and Finance in past legislatures.
Edite Estrela, elected in Lisbon and a former mayor of Sintra, has led committees on culture and social communication in the past.
In the current distribution of permanent parliamentary committee presidencies, the Socialist Party will also lead the Economy and Territorial Cohesion, and Labor committees.
The Socialist Party has appointed Pedro Coimbra to preside over the Committee on Economy and Territorial Cohesion, while Tiago Barbosa Ribeiro, a deputy from Porto, will lead the Committee on Labor, Social Security, and Inclusion.
On Tuesday, the Social Democratic Party appointed former Secretary of State José Cesário to lead the Foreign Affairs and Portuguese Communities Committee, while deputy Almiro Moreira will head the State Reform Committee, with Paula Cardoso continuing as the head of the Constitutional Affairs Committee.
The Social Democratic Party, the largest parliamentary group in the Assembly of the Republic, has been allocated seven committee presidencies.
Miguel Santos, previously the chair of the Economy Committee, will now preside over the Infrastructure, Mobility, and Housing Committee. Paulo Cavaleiro, deputy and Deputy Secretary-General of the PSD, will lead the Culture, Communication, Youth, and Sport Committee, which was presided over by the Socialist Party in the XVI legislature. Maurício Marques will preside over the Agriculture and Fisheries Committee, and Hugo Oliveira will lead the Environment and Energy Committee, previously chaired by social democrat Salvador Malheiro, now the Secretary of State for Fisheries and the Sea in the XXV Constitutional Government.
The most significant of these appointments is José Cesário, who returns to parliament after serving as Secretary of State for Portuguese Communities in the first PSD/CDS-PP executive led by Luís Montenegro. Cesário will chair the Foreign Affairs Committee, a position previously held by socialist Sérgio Sousa Pinto, who has left parliament.
Also on Tuesday, the Chega party appointed Rui Afonso to chair the Budget and Finance Committee and Rui Paulo Sousa to the Transparency and Deputy Status Committee.
Chega is set to preside over four committees, also leading the National Defense Committee, with Pedro Pessanha returning as chair, and the Education Committee, with Manuela Tender continuing her role.
In the previous legislature, Chega chaired three committees: National Defense, with Pedro Pessanha; Education and Science, with Manuela Tender; and Local Power and Territorial Cohesion, with Bruno Nunes, who is stepping down from committee presidencies.
Last week, the Assembly of the Republic unanimously approved the composition of the 15 permanent parliamentary committees for the new legislature, including the number of deputies in each and their distribution among different groups.
