The welcome session at the Assembly of the Republic for Brazilian President Lula da Silva will take place on April 25, but a moment before the solemn session of the 49th anniversary of the Carnation Revolution.
This information was passed on to journalists by the delegate Maria da Luz Rosinha (PS) at the end of the Leaders Conference meeting.
Lula will be received at the parliament at 10 a.m. and will be assisted by the Brazilian Head of State and President of the Assembly of the Republic, Augusto Santos Silva.
Then there is time for greetings.
The traditional solemn commemorative session of April 25 will start at 11:30 am and will have interventions from parliamentary groups and some deputies, the President of the Assembly of the Republic and the President of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa, ending .
According to the spokeswoman for the Conference of Leaders, Augusto Santos Silva has sent an invitation so that the Brazilian president “may attend the April 25 session”, but “no response has yet been received”.
Maria da Luz Rosinha also indicated that during the welcome session, the main hall will already be decorated with the usual red carnations, since “there would be no conditions to prepare the hall afterwards”.
Asked several times if there was any opposition from any political force to scheduling the session to welcome the Brazilian president on the 25th, the leader’s conference spokesman replied that no party had manifested itself in this regard.
“We had already discussed this subject a few times, albeit in a different way. There was no demonstration against this fact, not at all,” he said.
However, speaking to journalists shortly afterwards, Chega’s parliamentary leader said he had expressed the party’s position “against this ceremony of welcoming the Brazilian president” to the leadership conference and had asked for it to be “recorded in the minutes.” hold.
“There was no vote. Although there was no vote, we expressed our opinion and said that we are against Lula da Silva coming to speak at this Assembly of the Republic on the 25th,” Pedro Pinto stressed, reiterating that the party will demonstrate “in the street” against holding the two sessions on the same day, which he says is “promiscuity”.
Regarding Chega’s presence in the plenary, Pedro Pinto said the party has yet to decide whether to attend or not, but indicated that “something will be done about it”.
The Liberal Initiative (IL) parliamentary leader also spoke to journalists and reiterated Tuesday’s position that only one deputy from the party will be present in the chamber during the welcome session for Lula, who will be himself.
The entire IL faction will be present at the solemn commemoration meeting on 25 April.
Asked if he had spoken out during the leadership conference against holding the two sessions on the same day, Rodrigo Saraiva replied only that the party had already taken this position publicly several times, including at previous meetings of this body.
In December, when he went to Brasília for the inauguration of Lula da Silva, the Portuguese head of state announced that the President of Brazil would go to Portugal from April 22 to 25 this year for a Luso-Brazilian summit and a state visit. would culminate in his participation in the ceremony on April 25.
In February, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, João Gomes Cravinho, spoke explicitly in a speech by the President of Brazil at the April 25 session of the Assembly of the Republic, pointing out its unprecedented nature, which sparked controversy and criticism because it was a ceremony. under the responsibility of parliament.
Instead of an intervention by the President of Brazil during the solemn annual commemoration session on April 25, the parliament decided to hold a separate welcome session during Lula da Silva’s state visit to Portugal.
Source: DN
