What seemed a certainty on Thursday, was not so much on Friday. The possibility that Brazil’s President Lula da Silva will speak in the Portuguese parliament at the formal session on April 25 now seems anything but certain.
On Thursday, this was taken for granted by the Portuguese government, through the Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, in a statement he made in Brasília at a press conference at the Itamaraty Palace, along with Brazil’s Foreign Minister, Mauro Vieira. “It is the first time that a foreign head of state has given a speech [no Parlamento português] on that date,” emphasized Gomes Cravinho.
The statement surprised parliamentary leaders – or at least some of them – as nothing had been discussed in the leaders’ conference. André Ventura, deputy and leader of Chega, did not miss the opportunity to denounce that Lula’s presence had been announced without the knowledge of the deputies. Adão Silva, the deputy of the PSD and vice president of the Assembly of the Republic (AR) who led the work at the time, charged: “It is a bit disrespectful to be a minister and not announce Your Excellency who will speak in this house.”
“The PSD accepts that the Brazilian head of state speaks in parliament, but not in the solemn session dedicated to April 25.”
Immediately afterwards Rui Rocha, president of the Liberal Initiative, said there had been an “unacceptable violation of what the parliamentary institution is”. “This is the house of democracy, which has its own procedures, and the correct procedure is that the April 25 formal session is discussed in the context of a conference of leaders.”
Later, late Thursday evening, the “circle” was closed from the right, with the PSD parliamentary leader assuming that his party does not want to see Brazil’s president speak at the AR in that formal session. “The PSD accepts that the Brazilian head of state speaks in parliament, but not in the formal session on April 25,” Joaquim Miranda Sarmento said in a written statement to Lusa.
On Friday, the chairman of the AR, the socialist Augusto Santos Silva, felt compelled to clarify. After all, what had been categorically presented by the Portuguese MNO as a speech by Lula in parliament at the solemn commemoration session on April 25 was now described as a “welcoming session for the President of Brazil”.
“Every effort is being made to have all the information I need at one of the next leaders’ conferences to suggest to parliamentary groups and delegates how to organize the welcome session for the President of Brazil at the time of his coup d’état visit to Portugal” , he said in plenary, in response to André Ventura.
Santos Silva referred to Article 76 of the Rules of Procedure of the AR, which mentions both the April 25th formal session and the “ceremonial sessions welcoming foreign heads of state”: “The model, the protocol organization and the conditions of use of the word in the said sessions […] be defined by the President of the Assembly of the Republic, after hearing the Conference of Leaders.” Therefore, the last word is yours.
Source: DN
