Normally it would be a plenary day. But that won’t happen this time. We are in the last stretch of the legislature and the urgency to close processes is speaking louder.
The deputies split into committees, which are spread over several chambers. Number 6 will be the stage for the final meeting of TAP’s Parliamentary Committee of Inquiry (CPI), which will vote on the final version of the report, which had drawn criticism from across the opposition line in recent days. There’s a guard. Filipe Melo, from Chega, is late – until then he is on the Economics Committee. Meanwhile, the deputies talk; advisers give directions and distribute documents; there are those who take the opportunity to drink coffee, drink water to cope with the heat that is felt, or to exchange some impressions. Upon entering the meeting, there is one certainty: despite the criticism, the report is always approved, with the PS making it possible. It is known at this stage that virtually everyone will vote against; the doubt is the PCP, which gave no certainty about the vote, but which will eventually also be against.
Outside, in the atrium that gives access to the corridor of the committee rooms, the television cameras are already set up; they are direct – as this has been one of the hot topics in national politics in the recent past. Photographers position themselves in the room, journalists set up computers and sit in the background. While they wait, the president of the CPI, António Lacerda Sales, makes a briefing: it will be a busy afternoon, the timetable foresees a total duration of more than five and a half hours. The first intervention is in the hands of the rapporteur, Ana Paula Bernardo, representative of the PS, who has a maximum of 45 minutes to present the report and explain the version to be discussed. “It’s long, but that doesn’t mean I use everything,” Lacerda Sales told journalists. There are those who ask if there is “a break like at school” in the middle of the meeting. The chairman of the CPI gives no guarantee and says it depends on the progress of the works.
The meeting starts almost an hour late. The rapporteur will start by presenting the document – which will contain some opposition proposals – followed by a first round. Starting with the parties that submitted proposals, ending with those that chose not to (PSD and IL); then there is a moment of discussion. At the end, the promised intermission takes place. Most of the deputies leave the room. At this time, the bar is already closed, the coffee is already in the machine vending machine or with capsules. After the 10 minutes, work resumes. Two interventions follow. Then vote. The meeting ends after sunset.
Source: DN
