The warnings were outlined in an email sent today by José Pedro Aguiar-Branco to all parliamentary groups, aimed at resolving the ongoing disagreement regarding the seating arrangements of deputies in the plenary session.
This disagreement, primarily involving the PSD and Livre since the beginning of the Legislative Assembly, escalated recently. The PSD’s parliamentary leader, Hugo Soares, accused Livre of not adhering to the seating arrangements approved on June 18. Rui Tavares countered that Livre was protesting by not occupying their designated front-row spot.
Livre has been seated in sections reserved for the Socialist Party and asserts their refusal to sit in the first row until the issue is resolved.
In his message, José Pedro Aguiar-Branco noted that the Assembly of the Republic operates based on principles of pluralism, democratic representation, and adherence to collectively agreed-upon rules among all parliamentary parties.
He emphasized that the seating distribution results from an Assembly decision aimed at ensuring functional organization and the dignity of parliamentary work.
“The decision followed general criteria, adhered strictly to the Rules of Procedure, and was validated accordingly. The President of the Assembly does not impose individual decisions but implements the collective resolutions,” Aguiar-Branco stated.
The parliamentary president further highlighted that the seating distribution is not arbitrary but crucial for organizing proceedings by the committee, ensuring regular voting procedures, and identifying deputies during sessions.
He reminded that votes should be cast from seats allocated to each Parliamentary Group, as voting from unassigned seats could cause misunderstandings or undesirable interpretations regarding the representativeness and arrangement of deputies in the chamber.
The Assembly approved on June 18 the seating arrangement in an unprecedented vote, with Livre contesting their allocation and the PSD facing accusations of inflexibility.
The deputies ratified the arrangement with support from PSD, Chega, and CDS-PP, while IL and PAN abstained. The configuration from right to left in the first row of the chamber includes five Chega deputies, one from CDS, two from Iniciativa Liberal, eight from PSD, five from PS, two from Livre, and one from PCP.
Livre argues that having their six deputies spread across different rows complicates communication and believes the situation would be resolved if PSD relinquished one of their eight first-row seats.
However, PSD’s parliamentary leader Hugo Soares maintains that his party cannot forfeit a right that comes as a consequence of their representativeness.
