IL President João Cotrim Figueiredo said this Friday that the party will participate in the constitutional review in a “limited and surgical” way, criticizing the “terrible time” for this process which he said could result in a worse constitution.
Speaking to the Lusa news agency, Cotrim Figueiredo outlined the general lines of the party’s constitutional revision project and criticized the timing of this process, which he attributed to “who agreed to go to the match at this time”considering it’s worrying that it can “lead to constitutional amendments that do not go in the right direction”🇧🇷
The still leader of IL assumed it is IL project “limited and performed surgically in three key areas”referring to that “it’s very programmatic and even ideological”🇧🇷
For Cotrim Figueiredo, the revision of the Constitution “comes at a bad time” and “Portugal is not well served” because it would be important to “discuss more global projects”.
Express concerns about “the ease with which one would like to avoid the role of the Assembly of the Republic in any restrictions on individual rights, in the specific case of detentions related to health emergencies”the liberal explained that a way to participate in this review process is also a “violent resistance to these change attempts”.
Faced with this criticism and wondering if he fears that a constitution worse than the current one will emerge, Cotrim Figueiredo said: “with the greatest frankness and with some sadness”to have “almost sure”🇧🇷
“The PS will use its absolute majority to scrap a good part of these proposals that come from other parties”he warned, justifying the decision to continue with the fact that the Liberals have never “turned their faces to the battle”.
From what he’s seen from other projects, the IL leader doesn’t see it “a concern for simplification, rationalization of the constitution itself”.
“There are more complicated things, things are being brought into the Constitution that could very well be in organic laws or even legislative decrees. It makes little sense to make the Constitution some kind of repository of rules and guidelines that will soon be dated”criticized.
Liberals want to end the Republic’s representative and constitutional limit on deficits and government spending
The IL proposes in the constitutional revision to end the representation of the Republic in the autonomous regions, to set a budgetary limit on the deficit and government expenditures and to introduce freedom of choice in public services, with the intention to rewrite the preamble of the constitution.
Liberal Initiative (IL) president João Cotrim Figueiredo spoke to the Lusa bureau about the proposed constitutional revision, which will be “surgical and limited” and will focus on three key areas.
In terms of political freedoms, IL wants to rewrite the preamble “remove the reference to opening a way for a socialist society and replace it with opening the foundations for the establishment of a liberal democracy”🇧🇷
Fiddling with the material limits of constitutional revision is another proposal from the IL, which still wants it “amend an anachronistic requirement that candidates for the presidency of the Republic must be of Portuguese descent”and it is now enough that they have Portuguese nationality.
“We will make it clear with regard to the possibility of extradition that it cannot be made to requesting states that have a history of violating fundamental rights and we will also provide for the right to forget personal data deserving of constitutional dignity.”explains Cotrim Figueiredo.
In the context of the separation of powers with the respective scrutiny, the liberals propose the merger of the High Council for the Judiciary with the High Council for the Public Prosecution Service, “with a majority of the members of this new single Supreme Council appointed by the non-magistrates parliament”🇧🇷
“Ending with the representative of the Republic in the Autonomous Regions distributing most of its powers to the President of the Republic and ensuring that the appointment of the PGR and the President of the Court of Auditors is made by the President of the Republic, but on the proposal of the Assembly of the Republic by a two-thirds majority”noted.
According to the chairman of IL, it is important in the field of economy and society “the budgetary constitutional limit for the deficit of zero and for government spending of 35% of GDP”which would be the exception “in light of a two-thirds decision of the assembly and in light of obvious emergencies and public calamities”🇧🇷
“We are going to amend a series of articles generally related to public services, introducing freedom of choice in each of them, that is, all public, private, social, cooperative sectors can be part of the public service guarantee that the State continues to have, but does not have to pay”he added, with health, education, social security and housing at stake.
IL also wants to introduce municipal or sectoral minimum wages and “an article about economic regulators and who are not on any side of the constitution” immediately “logic of great independence from the government, budgetary independence and letting its administrations and presidential elections be chosen by public tender”🇧🇷
In terms of public administration, according to Cotrim, the goal is Figueiredo “establishing principles of transparency, impartiality, simplification, but also career advancement and merit-based recruitment”🇧🇷
Make it clear that the Prime Minister is a member of the government and is one of the ministers who is required to appear in parliament, provide amparo appeals and have parliamentary reviews requested by a parliamentary group and not by a minimum number of deputies are other amendments that to include liberals in the constitution.
IL also wants to refer to the importance of the November 25 date in the constitutional text and defends that, Just as April 25 prevented the continuation of a fascist dictatorship, so November 25 prevented the establishment of a communist dictatorship.🇧🇷
Source: DN
