The numbers are clear: PAN and Chega were the parties that submitted the most bills to the Assembly of the Republic in the legislative session that is now drawing to a close. The two parties each produced 169 bills. On the other hand, the PS awarded the fewest diplomas (27). For practical reasons, this analysis only concerns binding diplomas (ie bills and bills).
The data compiled by the DN is available at place of Parliament and show that, In this legislature (which started on March 29 last year) a total of 864 bills were delivered. Of these, 53 were approved – and the party that allowed for the most diplomas was the PS, with 16. This was followed by the IL, with nine bills approved, and then the PAN, with eight. But the numbers reveal another indicator: only the government succeeded in passing almost as many bills as those of all the other parties (52 from the Executive, who presented a total of 99).
Compared to other legislative sessions, it is also possible to see that this is by far the country with the highest volume of production since António Costa formed the government in 2015. With 863 legislative proposals, this legislature stands out. The second most productive was the first of the previous legislature (which started on October 25, 2019 and ended on September 14 of the following year), where the parties in the Assembly of the Republic produced 505 diplomas.
In this context of an absolute majority, it is also possible to verify that on the basis of Parliament’s data PS allied parties lose approval authority at the time of the device. In the first session of the XIII Legislature – where the apparatus was drafted – the communists presented 89 bills (and managed to see 27 approved), while the blockers presented 78 and approved 45. BE saw 20 of its diplomas made viable, out of a total of 100 awarded. I.e: production volume is maintained, reducing the number of approvals.
During this legislature, the phrase “steamroller of the absolute majority” appeared several times – one of the last being in the vote on the final report of the parliamentary inquiry committee (CPI) to TAP, due to the few opposition proposals accepted by the PS. But looking at the data, the “steamroller” appears to be just that: an expression. After all, when adding up all bills submitted – and approved by all parties except the PS – it is concluded that succeeded more than the socialists alone (37 from the opposition, against 16 from the PS).
The balance sheet of parliamentary leaders
Based on the figures, the DN contacted the leaders of each parliamentary group and invited them to take stock of the legislature that is now drawing to a close.
Eurico Brilhante Dias, leader of the PS bench, described the session as “long and very intense”. Yet, says the socialist deputy, “it was possible in a context of great uncertainty to reject two censure motions, push forward two state budgets, adopt measures to support families and businesses, and at the same time develop a framework of reforms, such as the Decent Work Agenda, the Framework Law for Professional Orders, the Public Land Bank or the More Housing Program”. For the socialist parliamentary leader, “A democratic dialogue” was also maintained with Parliament, for example through the adoption of the new Rules of Procedure.
For Chega, the parliamentary leader, Pedro Pinto, leaves criticism. “The balance is very negative”, he says. “We warned from the beginning that this was a bad government, that it would not serve the country and the Portuguese. Unfortunately, time has proven us right: a shoddy government that solves things with the appearance of other things and does not solve the country’s problems,” he said.
So says Rodrigo Saraiva of the Liberal Initiative the legislature now coming to an end ‘was deeply marked by the evasion of scrutiny and the denial of reality by the PSanchored in an absolute majority that finally demonstrated the true dimension of the PS’s political indisputability”.
Criticism also continues on the left. For the PCP, Paula Santos, parliamentary leader, says that “the inequalities and injustices have worsened” since the start of the legislature, something the deputy assures the PCP has tried to combat in different ways with different proposals. “The session is characterized by the fact that the PS has refused these solutionsmany of them in convergence with parties on the right,” he says.
Pedro Filipe Soares, from Bloco de Esquerda, goes in the same direction: “The legislature is characterized by the growth of the arrogance and authoritarianism of the PSwhich grew to such an extent that they failed to solve the country’s structural problems.”
Inês Sousa Real, the sole representative of PAN, considers the session to be “slightly more complicated”, taking into account the absolute majority. “Nevertheless, the PAN was the party that presented the most initiatives and this shows that it is a small ant job, but that little by little it is starting to have an impact on the lives of familieshe says, remembering that his party was generally the one that saw the most diplomas approved (including non-binding draft resolutions, for example).
The only other deputy, Rui Tavares, from Livre, emphasizes another factor, in addition to the crises that have characterized recent times, such as housing: “We had an increase in tensions between the government and Belém and a deterioration in joint work and cooperation between the government and the Assembly of the Republic. This second case is completely unnecessary, because the way out of political crises is through parliament. rule as if it does not have an absolute majority. I think that promise was short-lived.”
Post-holiday expectations
It is already known that some issues, such as metadata or the reconfiguration of professional orders, will move to the next legislature after the holidays. What are the priorities for parliamentary leaders?
Eurico Brilhante Dias is already looking at the approval of the state budget for next year, as well as the process of constitutional revision and the “start-up of the working group for the revision of the water law”.
Chega will prioritize areas such as Justice, which “needs to be much faster and more effective, tougher on criminals and with better working conditions for those who exercise it”, or Housing, where “something has to change, with help for those who want to buy a house and those who want to build, with less taxessaid the parliamentary leader, Pedro Pinto.
The liberal initiative will mainly focus on “structural reforms”. “We have already done it with the IRS and we will do it now with Health, creating a system for universal access to health care. We will continue to focus on taxation and simplification and will push for the debate on the new basic health lawsays Rodrigo Saraiva.
On the left, the PCP sees “housing and childcare issues” as priorities. “The pressing problems in people’s lives, which make it possible to overcome difficulties”, he summarizes. The BE will also focus on housing – “a structural problem in the country” – or, for example, on creating “a fairer tax system, which makes it possible to value income from work and tax large fortunes”.
The PAN, on the other hand, continues to follow animal and ecology guidelines. “We want to recognize the figure of the companion animal and also get the government to invest to fight climate change and comply with the nature restoration law,” says Inês Sousa Real.
Finally, Rui Tavares, from Livre, sees the return from work as an opportunity to discuss topics such as “access to unemployment benefits for victims of domestic violence”, which are still “in the legislative circuit” and also “to bring the debate on the subject of social heritage in Portugal to the table”, something that, Livre’s spokesman says, will be a way to reduce the disparity between lower and higher incomes.
The DN also contacted the PSD, which did not respond in a timely manner.
Source: DN
