In a first meeting of the party, open to the media in parliament, about the constitutional review process, André said Ventura specifically attacked one of the PSD proposals: that to change the mandate of the President of the Republic to a single seven-year term, instead of the current two five-year terms.
“This is the one that no one would remember, the bald man does not remember, but Luís Montenegro remembered this one (…) It would mean that the president, after being elected, would become completely irresponsible because he would not go to submit to the right to vote again,” he criticized, also devaluing PSD proposals to create a council for territorial and generational cohesion or to fire the representative of the Republic for “failing to solve people’s problems “.
For Ventura, the PSD’s proposals for constitutional revision are “the greatest symbol of the maxim that it is necessary to change something so that everything remains the same.”
As an example, he pointed to the proposal to reduce PSD deputies, reducing the maximum limit from 230 to 215, which he classified as “political make-up” as Chega proposes to lower the minimum limit to 100 MPs.
In his speech, Ventura defended on several occasions that this “is Chega’s constitutional revision” as it was the party that initiated the process, with a project conceded on October 12.
“This is the constitutional revision that most clearly shows the political tactics of our opponents: nobody wanted a constitutional revision, and suddenly everyone did and we have to ask why,” he said.
For André Ventura, the reason for the PS is “obvious”: “It is the best way to divert attention from affairs and scandals that hit the government and the way António Costa found was to escape to the constitutional review and launch again the controversy over non-judicial detentions,” he charged.
As for the PSD, he thought, “it only came to this debate to try and steer the bloc to the right, realizing it would get caught between the PS and Chega”.
“So it’s time to present proposals that, let’s face it, change very little, some of them don’t even make sense and seem tailor-made to be present,” he criticized.
The eight parties with parliamentary seats presented constitutional reform projects after Chega launched the process.
The ‘record holder’ of amendments to the fundamental law is precisely the PSD, which wants to change 71 articles, followed by PCP (68) and Chega (62), with PS and Livre wanting to change the least, in only 20 articles.
However, amendments to the Constitution can only be approved with a two-thirds majority of the deputies, which implies the favorable mood of PS and PSD in the current parliamentary composition.
Despite admitting that Chega may have “convergence” with PSD and IL on issues such as freedom of choice in education, André Ventura assured that the party will “strongly oppose” any restriction on fundamental rights on health grounds without judicial scrutiny.
“We are leaving the pandemic, not entering it,” he justified, after Chega had been the first party on March 4, 2020 to announce its intention to amend the fundamental law to “allow compulsory hospitalization, when there is a binding advice from the Directorate General Health and an Imminent Threat to Public Health”.
Today, Chega’s leader believed that allowing the government to “introduce lockdowns or restrictions on movement sends a counter- and unnecessary signal”, accusing the PS of “disregarding the hidden agenda of the health emergency”. to have this constitutional amendment.
Ventura also criticized the various parties, especially those on the right, for not promoting sweeping changes in the field of justice and not including, for example, the reversal of the burden of proof, as Enough does.
In the project presented by the party, the leader of Chega highlighted as a “matter of honor” the inclusion in the constitution of the possibility of life imprisonment, greater control over the rules to grant asylum status to immigrants, as well as the “tightening” of the regime of incompatibilities for former rulers and placing appointments to positions such as governor of Banco de Portugal and regulatory bodies under the responsibility of the president of the republic.
“I will not worry about the BE, PCP, PAN and Livre projects, because if you look at them, they obviously had nothing to say (…) It is clear that this constitutional revision will be discussed between PS , PSD and Chega”, defended.
Source: DN
