The interim parliamentary leader of the PS, Pedro Delgado Alves, expressed concerns about the measures approved on Monday by the Council of Ministers, emphasizing the socialists’ openness to dialogue and urging the PSD/CDS government not to proceed with changes “suddenly.”
“Our initial assessment is not positive. We hope the Government is willing to avoid making abrupt changes without a discussion on many issues that have garnered broad consensus over the years,” warned the interim president of the socialist bench.
Pedro Delgado Alves noted that, based on the documents provided by the PSD/CDS executive and the content of the press conference by the Minister of the Presidency, António Leitão Amaro, “some matters raise concerns for the PS.”
“Regarding the laws on foreigners and nationality, it is crucial to maintain a consensus based on factual evidence, which should be the foundation for legislative changes,” the socialist leader advised.
He stressed that the measures to be approved by the PSD/CDS executive should not be based “on perceptions.”
“This is very important because it is a consistent theme across these measures. We face a set of changes that we do not understand how they directly address the issues the Government tries to identify,” he justified.
Concerning the law on foreigners, the PS parliamentary leader advocated for Portugal to continue attracting labor, particularly in sectors like construction, tourism, or other services. However, the Government is now “tightening rules, which does not meet this need,” he said.
“The announced measures close the possibility of the job-seeking visa being widely used as a tool for foreign citizens to access the national territory,” he pointed out.
The proposed changes in family reunification also appear to “go against international conventions and the recommendations of international organizations on how to best integrate the immigrant population,” according to Pedro Delgado Alves.
“Family reunification is a crucial tool in this regard, and the restrictions now being introduced also do not seem to be on the right path,” noted Pedro Delgado Alves.
The interim president of the PS Parliamentary Group also identified two risks of unconstitutionality in the measures announced by the Government on Monday, in the nationality law and the objectives of introducing retroactive effects.
Pedro Delgado Alves highlighted that the nationality law “has been the subject of a broad consensus over the years” and criticized the executive for failing to present evidence of what it described as a side effect induced by the nationality law to justify such radical and substantial changes.
He pointed out the risk of creating “a second category of national citizens, a precarious nationality, following the immediate years after acquiring nationality.”
“All citizens have fundamental rights protected by the Constitution. The first of these is citizenship – and this possibility of depriving citizens of a right they acquired risks unconstitutionality,” he advocated.
Based on the statements of the Minister of the Presidency, Pedro Delgado Alves said he also detected a second risk of unconstitutionality, particularly concerning “an immediate enforcement of many measures.”
“There may be some retroactivity here,” he warned.
Pedro Delgado Alves also issued an economic warning: “We need to know if the Government adequately addressed these measures with economic agents.”
